Love Lasts Forever, but Sanity Has a Shelf Life
by redwolffclaw
Summary: 3rd in the Moonlighting Series: After investigating robberies with a mysterious spider symbol etched at the crime scenes, Shawn goes missing. The SBPD must try to find him before it's too late. But, when crimes committed by rogue vampires start popping up in Santa Barbara, the gang starts to wonder if Shawn is responsible. Set after "Out of the Past & Into the Fire."
1. Along Came a Spider

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here it is guys! The long promised third installment of my Moonlighting Series. Psych/Moonlight Crossover. Hope you like the cover for this one. It is my favorite out of all of them.  
**

******As always though, you don't have to know much about Moonlight to get the story. HOWEVER, I do recommend you read the other stories first as they contain a lot of information needed to get this one.**

**This is the sequel for "1- No Such Thing as Psychics," "1.5 -12:04am Wake Up Call," and "2-Out of the Past, and Into the Fire."**

**This takes place between season 6 and 7 so there will be spoilers up to Season 6 and maybe references of revealed facts from Season 7. Also, the entire series of Moonlight.**

**I have to have a warning in this story: I am planning on making this a lot darker than the other fics so there will be some graphic violence later on. I am still hoping to keep the language PG 13 though to keep it in the spirit of the series.**

**I do not own Psych, Moonlight or any other TV series I may or may not make reference to.**

* * *

**Chapter 1- Along Came a Spider**

The sun was shining brightly and there were no clouds in the sky as the Santa Barbara Police and Sheriff's Department's baseball team faced off with the Santa Barbara Fire Department's team. It was supposed to be a friendly competition to raise money for the rebuilding of the ruined SBPD, but it ended up being a bit more competitive as the innings wore on.

Because of the good weather, the two coaches for the SBPD had to spend most of their time in the covered dugout. Being vampires, it wasn't good for either of them to be out in the sun for long. Neither were happy about having to stay on the sidelines, but each had their own reasons:

Carlton Lassiter hated it because it was hard to look motivating, or intimidating, when you had to shout at your players from twenty feet away. He wanted to be able to tell the rookies to watch the ball or scream at the umpire up close and personal.

Shawn Spencer was unhappy because they couldn't be out there playing for the team. His competitiveness was being stifled and it irritated him to no end. Plus, he missed the crowd's cheering as he scored a good solid hit.

It wasn't _just_ because of the sun that they couldn't play. Vampires were okay with short trips into the sun, though it wasn't recommended. It was mostly the hitting over 600 foot home runs and breaking bats, consistently, that was a dead giveaway that something was up. Both of them suddenly batting better than Mickey Mantle would be very suspicious and counterproductive to the whole vampire secrecy thing, even though Shawn gleefully went through at least thirty baseballs to test that fact.

"Atta boy!" Carlton shouted as Buzz it the ball over everyone's head and landed at least a double.

"Yeah! Atta boy!" Shawn parroted.

Rounding on the psychic, Carlton growled, "What did I tell you Spencer!"

Shawn rolled his eyes, "Fine, geez lighten up." He punched Carlton on the arm good naturedly. _And people say _I'm_ competitive._ He smirked to himself.

Carlton grimaced and went back to watching the game. "Oh come on! He was safe by a mile!" He threw his hands up in exasperation then waited for their next batter, then growled in frustration before shouting, "MCNAB! Actually _swing_ the bat! Don't let them try and walk you! You're our best hitter!"

The other players in the dugout glared daggers at him.

"What?" Carlton looked at them confused.

Juliet was next up to bat. Being five months pregnant, she wasn't able to run the bases herself, so Gus was nearby and ready to take off as soon as the Jr. Detective sent the ball flying. "Go sweetie!" Shawn yelled in support of his baby mama. She smiled at him over her shoulder and lined up for a swing.

The pitch was perfect and Juliet connected solidly with the bat. Gus took off as fast as he could and ended up on second base. Shawn squinted at the pitcher and saw the small smile and nod he gave Juliet, and knew he'd pitched it to her nicely on purpose. _I've got to remember to thank him later._ Shawn noted to himself and went back to annoying Carlton by repeating his instructions.

The game was extremely close for the last couple innings until the Fire Fighters' team scored a double in the eighth inning and ended up keeping the lead and winning the game. Carlton threw down his hat in frustration and cursed at the umpire, who for once wasn't Shawn's dad Henry, but a volunteer fire fighter. Henry was actually in the stands with the rest of the crowd, shouting out friendly jeers at the winners.

During the good sportsman handshake after the match, the fire fighters gave their condolences for the police department's loss and their congratulations on the _almost_ completion of the new SPBD. The explosion three and a half months before had temporarily moved the whole department to the now cramped Sheriff's offices on the other side of the city. After a lot of volunteer work and clean-up, they had begun building and were just a couple months away from completion. The officers couldn't have been more excited about it.

"Shawn!" Juliet called and rushed to her boyfriend in the dugout.

He gave her a quick hug and the nearby Carlton rolled his eyes. "Hey, you did great out there."

Juliet smiled, "I think the pitcher was being nice to me."

"Well, you're going to be someone's mother now, plus if he wasn't I could sneak into his room at night and scare the bejeezus out of him, or would that be more along the lines of Ghost Dad than scary vampire?" His silly retort was followed by a slap to the chest from Juliet. "What?" Shawn said indignantly pulling Juliet closer and laying a hand on her stomach, "I could pull off a great Bill Cosby."

"Please don't ever compare yourself to Bill Cosby, Shawn." Gus complained as he walked up with Henry.

Shawn tsked at Gus dejectedly and turned to his dad. "Hey pop. We could have actually used your _delightful_ umpiring skills today."

"Well if you would have actually paid attention to the game rather than bug Lassiter and oogle Juliet, we may have won." Henry scowled. "And don't even think about making any other plans today. Your mom will be here around six. I'm picking her up from the airport and you two," He pointed at Juliet and Shawn. "are going to have a nice long discussion with her."

Shawn frowned. They'd put it off as long as they could but tonight was the night. He had to tell his mom about the baby, and about him being a vampire. He rubbed his face and nodded, but it was Juliet who spoke. "I'll make sure he's there."

"Good, because lord knows when she'll be back in town and you are _not _telling her over the phone Shawn."

Their conversation halted abruptly as one of the other officers in a baseball uniform approached them, "Hey guys, are you coming to the bar for some beers?" Juliet raised an eyebrow at the officer who blushed at offering a beer to a pregnant lady. "Uh, I mean…"

"Yeah we'll be there." Shawn grinned. If he wasn't one of the guys before, he sure was after saving at least twenty officers from a fiery and explosive end. They'd lost four but it could have been so much worse, and the other cops knew it.

The officer gave a sheepish smile at the couple and walked over to Buzz, probably to ask him the same question. Turning to Carlton, Shawn asked, "You coming too Lassie?"

The detective nodded, "I'll be there. Just need to stop at home for something." No one who knew him needed to ask what that _something_ was, but they were just glad he was going. With Marlowe set to be released in a couple weeks, the usual grumpy detective was in a pretty good mood lately, which was a nice change.

For a while after the incident with Lance, both Shawn and Carlton had gone through some rough patches figuring out what exactly being a vampire entailed. Their first couple weeks as vampires the pair hadn't had much time to process their new lot in life with all the hectic mess going on around them. Kidnappings, murders, arsonurderers…neither had it very easy but it had been the adrenaline had kept them going.

Afterwards, having had time to think, they took it pretty hard but had made a lot of progress emotionally with the help of friends and family, not to mention their respective mentors Mick St. John and his older vampire friend Josef Kostan. They kept in touch regularly with questions and encouragements that made all the difference in the world for the two young vampires.

Juliet smiled at her partner and put a comforting hand on his arm. "We'll see you there." She turned to Henry, "Are you coming too?"

"No I have to go home and make sure I have everything for supper tonight. You kids go have fun." Henry gave Shawn a nod and headed to his truck.

"See you in a few minutes buddy." Shawn fist bumped Gus, and arm in arm, walked with Juliet to his muscle car.

* * *

Once inside the vehicle, Juliet grabbed Shawn's hand and squeezed it gently while giving him a small smile. It had become her way of silently asking how he was doing without having to constantly voice her worry. Shawn squeezed her hand back. "I'm okay Jules. Just too much sun." He smirked and started the vehicle.

"You're worried about telling your mom the news, aren't you?"

"Which news? The fact that she is going to be a grandma? Or the fact that her son is now a handsomely devilish, blood sucking fiend?" He growled playfully while leaning over and leaving a slobbery kiss on Juliet's neck.

Juliet squealed, "Ew! Shawn! I'm serious!" She knew Shawn was just trying to hide his feelings with goofiness again.

He let out a sigh. "Fine. I guess I'm just worried she won't take it so good, ya know? With you, Gus, and Dad, it was kind of a special circumstance. You saved me, I saved you, and it gave me the chance to prove to you guys I'm still me. It's a bit different than just coming out and saying it to someone. You saw how the chief reacted."

Knowing her boyfriend wasn't the best at nut-shelling, Juliet did it for him. "You don't want her to think you're a monster." At the hurt look in Shawn's eyes Juliet squeezed his hand tighter. "Shawn, she's your mom. She'll never say that about you."

"I know she won't ever _say_ that about me, but I see her so little as it is and I want her to be a part of our baby's life. She may just leave and not want to see me again after finding out."

"Shawn, I'll be right there. So will your dad. Everything will work out."

Shawn smiled and kissed her hand, while keeping an eye on the road. He loved her optimism, especially since the last few months had been hard on her too. He thanked whoever was out there every day for giving him such a spectacularly understanding and wonderful girl. He stole a glance at her increasingly swollen stomach. "So, how are the cravings? Do you need to order the Shawn Spencer when you get to the bar?" In just a short week they were going into the doctor so they could find out if they were having a boy or a girl, Juliet was beside herself with glee at finding out.

Laughing, Juliet admitted to herself she was craving chili cheese fries, among other things. If appetite was any indicator, their baby was going to have the same eating habits Shawn used to. "I can't believe you actually got them to call it that after so many years."

"Well, I'm a hero now, and it is a cop bar." Shawn shrugged, "It was only a matter of time before they realized my awesomeness and caved." Juliet snorted and leaned in close to her boyfriend the rest of the short trip to the bar.

* * *

The traditional post game gathering was always something Shawn looked forward to and had sorely missed. Mingling was something he was good at and being around happy people usually made him feel good too. Which is why he was disappointed when, just after the food arrived, multiple beepers and cell phones started going off all at once. Including Juliet's. Something must have happened, and they hadn't even been at the restaurant for a half hour. Carlton hadn't even gotten there yet.

"Oh man!" Shawn complained, wrapping an arm around Juliet who was reaching for her cell. "Can't criminals just give us _one_ day? There should be a city wide broadcast. 'Police are currently partying at a local bar. Please don't commit any crimes till at least 3pm.'"

"Uh, Shawn. That might actually cause _more_ crime to happen if they thought the police were distracted." Gus pointed out while eating both his and Shawn's food orders.

Shawn, who only had a beer he was nursing just to keep up appearances, rolled his eyes and let Juliet go answer her phone. Gus was taking what he said way to seriously again. "Gus, don't be a three day old deflated balloon, I just want Jules to be able to finish her lunch, she's eating for two now."

A moment later Juliet came back. "That was the chief, she-"

"Needs you at the station because the theft case you've been working on just got more interesting." Shawn finished for her. He'd been listening to the conversation while arguing with Gus. It was a benefit of super hearing.

Juliet shot him an annoyed look. "Yes Shawn, and I have to get down there right after we're done eating."

"What about later? You're still coming to dinner?" Shawn gave her a pout.

"I'll be off in time to meet with your mother. The chief knows how important this is." Juliet assured him.

Shawn looked relieved. "Good, I don't think I can convince my mom that I'm actually in a lasting relationship, let alone going to be a dad without some hard physical evidence."

"You know that's right." Gus said between mouthfuls of food.

Carlton came in about five minutes later still dressed in his baseball uniform. "O'Hara let's get moving." Apparently he got the same phone call and was just there to pick up Juliet

Shawn pointed at a seat. "C'mon Lassie! Relax for a few minutes. The Chief gave you guys some time." Grumbling but giving in Carlton sat. Shawn took a swig of his beer and looked at Carlton slyly. "How was the visit with Marlowe?"

Straightening, Carlton feigned innocence. "What?"

"Dude, I can smell her on you, plus about twenty minutes ago I got the warm and fuzzies so I figured you made a pit stop." It had also been almost an hour since the game and if he was still in his uniform it meant he didn't stop home to change and get blood like he said he was going to do.

"Damn it Spencer I told you to shut that off!" Carlton knew Shawn had been practicing control over their emotional connection and had gotten better at ignoring it. It was creepy having someone in your head all the time.

"You think I _want_ that information? Why do you think I started figuring out how to control it in the first place?" Shawn shuddered. "I only have another couple months before I start getting full blown interactions if you get my drift, and I don't want that in my head either."

Juliet and Gus grimaced at the same time and felt a lot of sympathy for Shawn at that moment. "Okay! I'm done eating." Juliet pushed her food away and stood. "Let's get to the station."

"Call me." Shawn stood up and gave her a kiss on the cheek before she was out the door.

Shawn sat down again and took another small sip of his beer. "You know you're whipped right?" Shawn looked up and saw the smirk on Gus' face.

"You wish you were whipped." Shawn mumbled, "So what's up with you and Coraline? Still _just_ _friends_?" He waggled his eyebrows.

"Yes Shawn, and as much as you give me a hard time about it, that's all we'll ever be." Gus looked away indignantly.

Shawn grinned. Coraline was a smart, cunning and beautiful vampire. She just happened to also be their friend Mick's ex-wife, which made things really complicated for his friend. She and Gus had a lot in common and had "coffee dates" where they discussed more about the cure for vampirism that Coraline had to reinvent, due to the situation with her brother Lance. Gus' pharmaceutical insights helped her along in the process but without a rare and possibly extinct flower from Europe, they were stuck at square one.

Shawn finished his beer in one gulp and got up. "I'm going to go help my dad with the whole 'get ready for mom' thing. Lord knows he'll probably buy some girly champagne to try and impress her."

Gus nodded. Henry did still have the hots for his ex-wife and it bugged Shawn to no end. "I hear that. I have to go home and change for my route. Let me know how it goes?"

"Will do buddy, and let me know how the coffee date goes with Coraline tonight too." Shawn smirked and made a quick exit.

Gus blanched. He had only talked to her about meeting this morning before walking into Psych. With Shawn's super hearing he must have picked up on his plans. "Wha? What? Have you been listening in on my phone calls? SHAWN!" The other officers stared in Gus direction for the outburst but he was too fuming to pay attention. He'd have to have another talk with Shawn about vampiric senses and privacy.

* * *

Baseball uniforms mingled with dress blues and a few spatters of tan from members of the Sheriff's department as the officers crowded in the conference area that had been cleared out for the SBPD meetings. Since the police station was destroyed the two law enforcement teams had to share the Sheriff's station that had been across town. It was always packed but the officers of the SBPD were never made to feel unwelcome.

After finishing setting up the projector, a very pregnant Chief Karen Vick shouted to get everyone's attention. "Listen up people! We just got word about another break in by the gang Las Arañas."

Carlton frowned. Las Arañas had been running amok for almost the past month, robbing everything from jewelry stores to grocery stores in Santa Barbara. Despite the best efforts of the gang task force, none of the gang had been apprehended yet so he and Juliet had been put on the case last week.

Detectives and officers jotted down notes as the chief continued. "For those of you who don't speak Spanish, their name literally means "The Spiders," as illustrated by their gang symbol here." She indicated a picture of a skeletal spider with a skull for a body. "They leave this mark at every crime scene, and that's the only thing they leave. No prints, no marks, and no merchandise. Unfortunately at this last crime scene, they did leave something..." She clicked the next slide on the projector and a body appeared.

The body was that of an older man, probably in his late 50's. He lay on his back and three bullet holes were visible in his torso. A few grumbles and gasps accompanied the news.

Karen gave her officers a moment to absorb the evidence and moved on. "That was Richard Price. He was the owner of the store and had just returned from a business trip. Our best guess is that he came in when they were cleaning him out and surprised them. This is now a murder case ladies and gentlemen, and with one murder comes more and I want them found _before_ that happens." Every officer in the room could see that she meant it. "Now, there are packets of evidence on the table. I want each of you to look over it and let me know about any insights that you may have. You're dismissed."

The crowd of officers began to disburse and Karen approached Juliet and Carlton. "Detectives, I want Mr. Spencer and Mr. Guster in on this as well. We need all the man power we can get we clear?"

"Yes Chief." Both Carlton and Juliet answered.

Smiling, Karen nodded at Carlton and pulled Juliet aside. "How is Shawn doing?"

Juliet frowned." He's nervous. His relationship with his mom is complicated at best. I think she's a lot like him so it's hard to say how it'll go."

"Well give him my luck, and try to be understanding. The news she's getting tonight isn't going to be easy to take." Karen knew from experience how life changing it really was. Finding out that vampires were real opens up a can of worms that takes a lot of getting used to. She was just happy that both Shawn and Carlton had the support system to be able to deal with their new 'condition.'

"Thanks, I will Chief. Get some rest okay?" Juliet found it funny that both of them ended up pregnant at the same time.

"You too O'Hara." Karen nodded and went to talk with another couple officers about the case.

Carlton walked up to her after grabbing one of the packets of evidence. "Here, give this to Spencer tonight, I'm sure he'll want to jump right in."

"Thank you." She plucked the packet from her partner's hand while Carlton read his own copy.

"I can't believe these bastards keep getting away with this. The Chief is right, if we don't get them soon, the bodies will start piling up."

"Well once Shawn gets this he'll be all over it. Psych hasn't had any new cases so far this month and I keep walking in on impromptu paper basketball championships." Juliet complained. The fame from the heroics during the SBPD bombing kept the psychic detective business busy for a couple months, but eventually the hype had died down and everything was back to the normal, one or two cases a month.

"I'll go talk to Strode and see what I can find. Maybe I can get a scent from the body and track them. You can go get ready for your dinner. I'll let you know if I find anything. Lord knows you are going to have your work cut out for you trying to convince Spencer's mom that he's not crazy." Carlton spun around and headed down the hallway with Juliet frowning after him.

She should have been impressed, Carlton had _almost_ been sweet by her go get ready, even though he was right about tonight. It was definitely going to be interesting. With Madeline Spencer being a psychologist. The first response to "Mom I'm a vampire." would be that Shawn went insane. One thing was for sure, it was going to be an interesting dinner.

* * *

**END NOTES:** **I do have "Both Sides Now" to finish up then I can devote most of my time to this one and "Made This Way." I just really wanted to get this first chapter out to you guys. Hope you liked the intro.**

**NOTE: The spider emblem the gang uses can be seen in the middle of the cover picture. Creepy eh?**


	2. In Retrospect

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is me officially promising you that I can now update this story regularly! I got the first chapter out early because I couldn't wait anymore, but I will have at least a chapter a week for you guys. (Disclaimer: I do work A LOT and if said work distracts me from doing a chapter I apologize in advance.)**

**This chapter isn't as light hearted as I usually do. The humor is still there but it is very angsty. Would you expect anything else with Shawn having to break the news to his mom?**

**The action will pick up in the next chapter but for now, enjoy the touchy feely stuff I put in this one.**

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Chapter 2- In Retrospect...

"Dad I'm here!" Shawn yelled as he entered the house. He was hit instantly by an array of scents that took him a second to work through. He'd originally had trouble with it, but between the help his father and Juliet were giving him, he was getting better. Focusing on one at a time he smelled cooking fish, which Shawn would have complained about had he actually been eating. A subtle smell of wine, his father had opened a bottle to let it breathe, and the last was his father's nervousness.

Shawn wrinkled his nose. Feelings were a hard smell to describe. He'd tried explaining it to Gus once but it just ended up confusing him. With each emotion a person feels they put off a scent. Some smelled good, others smelled unpleasant. Anxiety was never a pleasant smell.

Shawn never thought his dad would be as hyped up about his mom's visit as he was, but the evidence of his dad's labors was all around him. The house was spotless. Shawn couldn't even see any lingering dust and that was saying something. _Looks like I made it just in time._ Shawn smirked, "Hey Dad, I think you missed a spot! There's still a speck of dust on the ceiling."

Henry came pacing into the living room carrying the wine and a cheese tray. "Hey Shawn. I'm just about ready."

Looking at his watch Shawn commented, "Dad, it's not even 4pm. Mom's flight doesn't even get here till 6."

"Not everyone likes to do things last minute Shawn." Henry grumbled, "Now help me with this couch. I want a bit more leg room." He bent over and was about to pick up his end when Shawn stepped up to the middle of the couch.

"I got it dad." Shawn bent over and lifted the couch like it was practically nothing.

Henry was still learning something new about his son every day. He _knew_ Shawn had been trying to keep things as normal as possible for them so it was hard to really see what was going on with him, but Henry had been a detective. Despite Shawn's best attempts to cover it up, he did see the little things that had changed. The small sniffs when someone else entered the room, and other small actions that screamed to Henry that Shawn was still trying to protect them, mostly from himself. He had no idea how hard it must be for his son to keep himself in check 24/7.

After the couch was in position they both sat down and relaxed a bit. Shawn knew he'd had too much sun today after the baseball game and it felt good to be in a nice air conditioned house. Vampires love cold. The silence started getting to him though and he started bouncing his foot a bit. He looked over and saw his dad staring at him. Leaning away a bit he raised his eyebrow. "Dad, what you're doing right now is kinda creepy."

Henry sighed, "How are you?"

Shawn put on his best smile, "I'm good, yep. Grrreat."

"I know you Shawn." Henry leaned forward, "You're scared as hell about tonight."

"Mmmmm…" Shawn made a skeptical noise.

"Kid, it's okay to be nervous about this. You've been through a lot and telling your mother is the next big step. You still want her in your life don't you?" Shawn nodded and stared at the ground. Henry knew only times Shawn usually clams up is when he is upset or truly scared. _Maybe he needs a bit more reassurance._ "Shawn, I need to tell you something."

Shawn turned to face his father. "Alright, shoot."

Henry took a calming breath, "When I found out you were-" He hated calling his son a vampire, "…what you were, I honestly did wonder if you were still my son." The hurt that registered in Shawn's face was heartbreaking.

Shawn got up, rubbing his lip, and turned his back to his dad.

Henry hadn't ever wanted to tell Shawn that, and he'd been ashamed he felt that way afterwards, but right now he felt Shawn needed to hear it. He rose and came around to face him but Shawn turned away again.

"Dad, just don't." He held out a hand to stop his dad from seeing him.

"_No_ Shawn. Look at me!" After another moment Shawn's white eyes came up to meet his own. "I was trying to tell you that at first, yeah. It was a lot to process and I _did _wonder if you were still my son, but…when you put everyone's safety above your own, thought about nothing else but saving the people you love, I knew. I _knew_ you were still my son, and I am damn proud of you and I know your mother will be too."

Surprising Henry, Shawn grabbed his father in a tight emotional hug. They'd had very few of these in their life time. Mostly they were after Shawn almost died, and there was one right after they'd both saved Abigail from a watery grave when she was kidnapped by Yin. Never one because his dad admitted that he was proud of him though. It felt good, really good to hear it.

After a few seconds they let each other go. Henry looked at Shawn's eyes and saw they were green again. "You feel better?"

Shawn nodded and sniffled a bit. "Just don't tell anyone about that. I have my macho reputation to consider."

"Your secret's safe with me kid."

* * *

Juliet showed up at the house around 5:30pm. Henry was just leaving to go pick up his wife at the airport. "Oh, hello Juliet."

"Hey Henry." Juliet lowered her voice and whispered, _"How's Shawn?"_

"Nervous, but we talked a bit." Henry glanced down at the paperwork in her hand. "Is that a case?"

Juliet nodded, "Yeah, I figured it would give him something to focus on while we waited. To get his mind off things."

Henry nodded and glanced at his watch, "I gotta go. Make sure to keep an eye on the fish. See you in an hour." She waved goodbye and entered the house, noticing Shawn was sitting on the couch watching TV.

He looked up as she entered. "Jules! How was work? Wait, lemme guess. Lassie finally convinced the Chief to make Clint Eastwood movies into training videos for new officers?"

Juliet was surprised at Shawn's good mood considering how somber he was earlier. "The chief asked us to bring you in on a case." She opened the file and sat down on his lap. "Its the robbery cases we've been on since last week. One of the store owners was murdered during a break in."

That got Shawn's attention. He tilted his head to look at the files. "Creepy spider." He pointed out the graffiti.

"One is left at every crime scene. The group is apparently called Las Arañas."

Shawn rolled his eyes and scanned over the pictures, committing each one to memory. "Original. So are these guys new? I haven't heard of them before."

"Relatively, they started making their marks about three weeks ago. Tomorrow we're checking out the crime scene." Juliet continued to chat with Shawn about the crime until they heard Henry's truck roll up.

Shawn was immediately off the couch and to the door. Juliet barely saw him move. "It's them! Remember you gotta hide!" Juliet was very visibly pregnant so that would have to be the first surprise of the night for his mom.

Juliet nodded and went around the corner to the kitchen with a barely repressed giggle. She couldn't wait to see the look on Madeline Spencer's face. She hadn't known Madeline very well but she had always been the type of person who wanted people to like her, let alone her soon to be mother-in-law.

Madeline was the first one through the door followed by Henry who was laden with bags and suitcases. Madeline turned to her ex husband and chided, "Now Henry I told you to leave those in the car for now. We'll get them later."

"Mom!" Shawn enveloped her in a hug and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Oh!" She exclaimed when suddenly she had an armful of her son. "Goose!" She hugged him back. "How have you been?" She moved back to get a look on him and put her hands on his face. "Oh my gosh you're freezing."

Shawn wasn't surprised she noticed. Vampires don't give off body heat and they generally need to stay cool, which is why they sleep in freezers and part of the reason why spending time in the sun is a huge problem.

Madeline turned to Henry, "He's not sick is he?"

Shawn grabbed her hands and gently lowered them away from his face. "I'm fine mom, but we have a surprise for you."

She gave them a puzzled look, "Shouldn't we wait till Juliet gets here? You said she was coming right?"

"Well..." Shawn trailed off as Juliet took her cue and rounded the corner. Shawn gave her a sideways hug and rubbed her belly. "Say hello to your grandchild!"

Madeline's eyes widened as she spied Juliet's swollen stomach. She started tearing up and put a hand over her mouth. _I'm going to be a grandma! _Madeline grabbed Juliet and gave her a big hug. "Oh, Sweetie!"

Henry stood back and dropped the luggage on the ground, watching as Shawn grinned proudly.

Shawn's mother's sniffles became less frequent. She let go of Juliet and rubbed the few tears out of her eyes. "I'm sorry, I just can't believe it."

Henry huffed out an amused snort. "You weren't the only one." His reaction to the news had been a little less enthusiastic and a bit more suspicious until he had concrete proof his son was not pulling his leg. Privately his reaction was a lot like his ex-wife's, but he'd never tell Shawn that. "Okay guys, the fish should be done and I'm sure your mother is hungry." He shooed them all to the living room so he could serve dinner.

Shawn joined Henry in the kitchen as Madeline and Juliet sat down on the couch. "So is my son treating you well?"

"He's the perfect gentlemen." Madeline gave Juliet the look only a mother could give when she doesn't believe a word you say about her kid. "Alright... we're okay. It was rough for a while, the baby was a bit unexpected but things are good now. I love him very much."

"I can see that dear." They hadn't had much time to talk before the men came out of the kitchen with plates full of food.

"Bon Appetite!" Shawn shouted and with a flourish handed Juliet her plate.

Madeline noticed Shawn didn't have one of his own. "Where's yours? Aren't you eating?"

Shawn knew the question would be coming. He had offered to eat to keep up appearances but his father said he wasn't going to waste perfectly good fish on someone who couldn't even digest it. "Nah, you know me and fish." Shawn did grab the wine in front of him and drank some.

"Are you sure you're getting enough to eat? You look a lot thinner." In fact, there was more than just her son looking thinner, he was a lot less tan as well. He didn't exactly look unhealthy but Madeline was starting to think there was something very off about him and the situation in general. The awkward glances between the others, was just the icing on the cake. She could tell something was up.

"I'm fine mom, just exercising more, getting in shape. Gotta look hunky for my lady." Shawn really hoped she was buying it. He didn't want to ruin dinner quite yet.

Madeline decided to let the subject drop. Shawn did look happy. _Maybe I'm just imagining things. _

The conversation went back to the baby and some of Shawn's recent cases until their meal was done and just the wine was left.

"I don't know about you, but I'm stuffed. That was a lovely meal Henry." Madeline smiled. Henry blushed and mumbled some kind of "Thank you." before grabbing the plates and putting them away.

After Henry left the conversation dwindled down. In the silence Shawn started getting antsy again. Going over and over what he had to say in his head and thinking about all the horrible things that she could say about him.

"Shawn." Juliet hissed under her breath and he realized he was gripping the chair too tight and was beginning to rip it.

"Damn it." His dad wouldn't be happy about that.

"Goose..." Madeline leaned forward. "Are you okay?"

Defeated and knowing now was the time to tell her, Shawn shook his head. "No ma. I'm not. Not really."

Henry took that moment to walk in and he saw the expressions on everyone's faces; the fear in Shawn's, the nervousness in Juliet's and the concern in Madeline's. Shawn hadn't told her yet, but he was about to.

"Mom, could I talk to you out on the porch for a second?" Shawn led his mom out the door with a backwards glance and a mouthed, "Wish me luck."

"Do you think they'll be alright?" Juliet asked watching them go.

Henry shook his head. "Knowing Shawn, I think we will have a bit of explaining to do when she comes back in."

* * *

Shawn led his mother to the shaded deck and took a seat on the bench. With a deep breath and had a few false starts he finally blurted out. "Remember a few months ago when I had my accident and the next day I called you and said I was fine?" Madeline nodded. Due to her own auditory memory gift, she remembered the conversation perfectly.

_"Miraculous recovery! Yes, that's what they said."_

She had been concerned but Shawn had promised to take care of himself. _Did something happen? Why didn't he tell me this before?_ So many questions were going through her head, but she was afraid he would lose his nerve if she interrupted him.

Shawn continued hesitantly, "Well, there was something in one of the transfusions I was given." He wished Gus was there so he could explain things more scientifically. All Shawn had understood from the conversation they'd had about what Gus had been told by Coraline was vampirism was caused by some kind of virus. He went on to say that the virus got into his cells and used his DNA to replicate itself and presto! Vampire. It was all very confusing but Shawn tried to explain it anyway. "It's a type of virus. Gus mentioned it was from the 70's or something."

"You mean a _retro_virus?" Madeline gasped, the most common retrovirus that she could think of was HIV. _Is Shawn trying to tell me he has AIDS?_ "Honey, we'll do everything we can. Find the best doctors..."

Shawn shook his head, "No, Mom listen, there is no cure... well there was but that's a long story-" Shawn knew he was starting to ramble so he paused to get his thoughts straight. "Suffice to say, I'm not the same."

"What are you trying to tell me Shawn? What is it you have?" She lay a hand on his and felt again that his skin was very cold and she pulled her hand away, giving him a measuring look.

Shawn stood up and rubbed the back of his neck, "The technical term is homo nus nocturnes." Shawn had memorized it because it sounded so much more mysterious and night-stalker_ish_ saying it in latin. "It means Vampire, mom."

Disbelief and horror turned to concern for his sanity in a matter of moments. She had listened to a lot of people lie over the years, and she had gotten pretty good at telling when people believed what they said, and her son... seemed to _believe_ that he was a vampire. "It was that case last year, the one with the vampires, it was right before you went to that mental hospital wasn't it? The stress of having a baby and you've had a tough year case-wise... Goose, it's okay to fantasize but you aren't a vampire!"

Shawn _knew_ his mother would think he was crazy at first, but he'd really hoped that she would trust him enough to believe him. "Mom this has nothing to do with-"

Madeline stood up and gripped her son's hands. "Shawn, I will get you some help. I know some good doctors around here. I'll stick around until you're doing better. I am so sorry that I wasn't here for you. Oh, it's all my fault."

"MOM!" He shouted and looked her in the eyes, "I'm not crazy. I just wanted to let you know so you can still be a part of my life. I love you Mom."

Juliet and Henry heard the shout from inside the house and ran out to see what it was. Madeline turned to Henry with barely repressed rage. "Henry, how could you not _tell_ me that Shawn was having delusions?" Madeline started dragging Shawn into the house. "I'm getting him out of here. He needs professional help Henry!"

Shawn cringed at his mother's words, "I'm standing right here you know!"

"He isn't having delusions, just listen to him!" Henry hollered as Madeline stormed back into the house with Shawn in tow.

Shawn planted his feet once they hit the living room and his mother was no longer able to move him. It was time to show her the proof. She already wasn't taking things well but she had to see to believe. "Mom, look at me." Shawn's mother stopped trying to drag him and looked at him.

"What Shawn?" She turned to face him and saw him close his eyes. She gasped when his face visibly paled to almost white and a rosy tint around his eyes gave his face a haunted appearance. When he opened them a moment later, his irises were almost pure white. "Oh my God." She stumbled back and Henry caught her before she could fall.

"Got you Madds, it's okay honey. It's still Shawn, it's still him." He tried soothing her.

Madeline shook in Henry's grip. "No, it can't be. It can't be him!"

Shawn turned his face away ashamed. He could instantly smell the fear pouring off his mom, which made him feel that much worse for scaring her. Juliet moved to go to him but with a loud and menacing growl of frustration he ran out of the house.

"Shawn!" Juliet called from behind him but he kept going.

He ran as fast as he could down the beach, trying to get as far away from the house as vampirically possible. His biggest fear had become reality. _My mother's scared of me._ Part of him knew he was being irrational, his father had reacted the same way, but in a life or death situation he'd had to come to terms with it pretty quickly. But she was his _mom_. She was the one who always understood him, talked to him about everything. He'd never had to hold back with her, which is probably why it hurt so much now.

Eventually he slowed down to a trot and finally plopped down on a bench overlooking the ocean. He reached into his shirt and pulled out his sun glasses, his vampire eyes were very sensitive to the light.

The sun was just starting to set and the lingering oranges and reds on the peaks of the waves combined with the darkness of wearing his sunglasses almost made it look like an ocean of blood. Shawn quickly took off the glasses before leaning over and putting his head in his hands, blocking out the sight. _That's one more image I don't need floating around in my noggin._

After staying that way for a few minutes, the sun started to bother him. Huffing out a breath Shawn looked at his watch. It was barely after eight thirty. Juliet would be worried about him if he didn't come back soon, but he didn't want to go back. Not yet anyway. He needed someone to talk to, but he didn't want to deal with people treating him like glass, wondering when he was going to break. He was a vampire damn it! Invincible, bullet proof, and immortal, but he'd felt more vulnerable and weak in the last three months than he had in his entire life. _Irony._ Shawn was getting really sick of that word.

Putting his sun glasses back on, and making sure not to look at the water, he trudged off to talk to the one person he had left to talk to right now.

* * *

Henry was sitting next to Madeline on the couch when Juliet came back in the house after chasing Shawn to the edge of the yard. "He's gone."

Henry nodded, he figured if things didn't go well Shawn would take off for a while. He didn't have time to worry about Shawn right now though, It was time to deal with his ex-wife's panic attack.

"What-what is he? Henry how did this happen? Why didn't you tell me?" Madeline shook in Henry's arms.

Figuring they should start from the beginning, both Juliet and Henry nut-shelled what had happened to Shawn to make him change.

Henry started first. "After he was in the accident a few months ago, a man came into his room and dosed him with vampire blood." Madeline shook her head, she didn't want to hear that word associated with her son, but Henry continued anyway, "For days we didn't know what was happening. He wasn't eating, he wasn't sleeping. He healed from his wounds overnight. It was pretty scary for us, but you know Shawn, he took it in stride."

Madeline listened in rapt attention to the story that they told about Shawn. Most of it she couldn't believe. She didn't want to believe that her son had been turned into something against his will, kidnapped, and almost forced to kill someone. Then, a week later, having to watch his friends get taken and injured by a madman before coming up with a plan to save them. It was all too outlandish and fantastical. She had always been a woman of scientific facts. They were always something she could trust in, but now her whole belief system had come crashing down around her.

* * *

Telling the story had taken about an hour, and Shawn still hadn't come back. Juliet wanted to call him, but Henry had stopped her. "Give him time." She nodded and looked at Madeline. Shawn's mother had been mostly quiet during their tale and afterward had been no exception. She had the same contemplative look that Shawn wore when something was particularly puzzling, or when he was remembering something.

Suddenly, Madeline blinked and her face fell a bit. She raised a hand to her head, "I can't believe it. How could I miss it?"

Juliet and Henry looked at each other, mystified at her reaction. "What did you miss Madds?"

"So many sessions with officers who all said they saw the same thing. Usually they were the first officers on a scene, or they were alone so no one could confirm their stories." Madeline looked at the concerned pair and explained, "I've done thousands of psychiatric consultations, thousands, but there were a few that stood out. One was from LA a few years ago. The officer was investigating a disturbance at an amusement park. Some of the rides had started moving and the park owners suspected vandals. When he got there, he found the headless body of a teenager, apparently he'd been thrown from one of the rollercoasters and was decapitated. While calling for back-up he looked for the head… and found it."

_A teenager?_ Juliet wondered where this was going. Madeline seemed really disturbed by it.

"He said the head didn't look human. The eyes were white, and the teeth…" She shuddered, remembering her son's fangs. "The teeth were pointed. He ran out of the park screaming and met the back-up at the entrance. When they got there though, there was blood, but no body or head. Everyone thought he was crazy and they sent for me. I had four sessions with him before he -" She stopped, not needing to continue. The people there were all too familiar with the cases where police officers couldn't take what they'd seen anymore. "There are others, a few of them. I never thought of them as connected until now."

Henry scooted closer to her and took her hands. "Madds, I know it's hard to take, but Shawn needs you. He is going to be alive for a _long_ time. The reason he wanted to tell you, rather than leave you in the dark about it is he figures he doesn't have long with us. He wants to spend as much time with his family while he can, before we're gone."

"Henry, our son is a vampire. I don't see how you can be so calm about this!" She turned to Juliet, "You either! This is just too big for me."

"We'll be there for you, it's a lot to adjust to we know. The one thing to remember is that Shawn is still Shawn. You know he'd never do anything to hurt us."

Madeline nodded tiredly. "I need some time to think. Is that okay?"

Henry smiled and rubbed her back reassuringly. "Yeah, you can take my room. I'll sleep down here."

Madeline rose and headed up the stairs in a daze. She had a lot to think about and come to terms with tonight. She felt bad for treating her son like that, especially when he was so vulnerable and just trying to tell her the truth. She stopped and sighed. "Tell Shawn I'm sorry. I'll talk to him tomorrow, I promise."

"Okay, I'm sure he'll understand." Henry watched her go before sagging into the couch and grabbing a glass of wine. "That went _well._" He quipped sarcastically.

"I can't say I handled it any better. She'll be fine with time won't she?" Juliet didn't know Madeline as well as Henry.

Henry gestured at the stairs with his wine glass. "That was probably the best we could have expected. Shawn didn't end up in a mental hospital so I'd call this a win."

Juliet couldn't argue with his logic. She pulled out her phone and started to dial Shawn. She needed to know he was alright and this time Henry didn't stop her. It was picked up after only two rings.

_"Spencer's phone."_ A familiar voice answered. Juliet's mouth dropped open in shock. She shouldn't have been surprised though. Shawn didn't have many people to go to and who better than someone who knew what he was going through. She had to ask though, just to make sure "Carlton?"

* * *

**END NOTES: It took me a long time to figure out how Maddie was going to react. I think I did it justice though.**

**You guys seemed to like it in the last story when Shawn and Lassie talked it out, and honestly... who else would really understand what poor Shawnie was going through? :)**


	3. Untangling the Web

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: Lots of feels in this one too but the action is starting to ramp up! Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 3- Untangling the Web**

**Thirty minutes earlier:**

Carlton sipped on a glass of blood as he poured over the case file in front of him. He took out the picture of the slain man, looking closely for any sort of clue that was left behind. _The bastards even took the bullets. _It frustrated the hell out of the detective that he wasn't able to solve the robberies before they turned deadly and he could only hope the Chief's prediction of more bodies would be wrong.

Each crime had been the same up till that point. It wasn't a smash and grab operation, no… these people came in swift and quiet and took everything they could get their hands on; cash, clothes, jewelry, anything of value gone. They were good, and Carlton knew to catch them, he'd have to be better.

A knock on the door made him jump. Looking at the clock he wondered if one of his neighbors, hopefully not Rosemary and her demon spawn, AKA Four month old wailing baby, were going to ask him to squish a bug or something. Most of the people in the complex were either women, or old so he'd gotten accustomed to the random requests of helping with groceries or extermination of small vermin. Especially since they hadn't gotten another care-taker yet after the last one ended up dead in a clothes dryer.

Going to the door and peeking out the view hole, Carlton groaned when he saw who was there. It was a very haggard and miserable looking Shawn. He'd over-heard Juliet talking about going to dinner with Shawn's mom and telling her the truth. Apparently it hadn't gone well if his presence was any indicator. Carlton swung open the door and, with a heavy sigh, stepped out of the way in a wordless invitation for Shawn to come in.

"Thanks Lass." Shawn gave him a small smirk and entered the condo.

It was nicer than Shawn remembered and better decorated. He figured Carlton was probably getting ready to have a lady in the house and it made him smile. He'd done the same thing to his apartment when he'd asked Juliet to move in with him a couple months ago. "Love what you've done with the place. It's like Guns and Ammo meets Better Homes and Gardens." The burst of anxiety from Carlton wasn't helping his own mood any, but he tried to keep his tone light.

Carlton rolled his eyes. "What are you doing here Spencer, shouldn't you be at your dad's?"

Shawn paced the room a bit ignoring the question. He absentmindedly paused to play with the leaves of one of the Head Detective's plants. "So… I told my mom."

"And?" Carlton wished Shawn would get to the point. It was awkward enough that Shawn had chosen him to talk to when he was clearly upset.

Finally letting some of his anger out Shawn whirled on his fledgling, his teeth bared, "What do you think Lassie? You think she said 'Oh Shawn I love you. You will always be my son.' Huh?"

Carlton flinched away, he wasn't expecting that kind of reaction. "Geez Spencer I just asked!"

Shawn cursed himself for letting his control slip but damn it he was pissed. Calming himself down with a deep breath, he continued, "She hates me alright. I showed her what I was and she hates me." Shawn snorted. "For all I know everyone else only tolerates me because they're scared of me." He didn't blame them. He did cut off someone's head in a fit of vampire rage. It was still all a bit hazy and the guy had helpedkidnap his girlfriend and assault his dad, but Shawn felt if he was capable of that level of violence, he was capable of anything.

Carlton didn't want to stand there and take Shawn's pity party in silence. He strode right up to Shawn and grabbed him, and pushed him down on the couch so he was sitting. "Now listen here Spencer. Instead of whining and wondering how much they're sticking around because they're scared, think of how much they must give a crap about you if they're willing to even be in your presence with all the shit they got put through because of this."

Shawn bowed his head and pouted. He never thought of it that way. "I never shoulda told her man. I don't see her all that often anyway. At least she still would've talked to me on the phone."

Carlton sat down across from Shawn. To tell the truth, he had been having the same thoughts for months, wondering if it was better to let his mom and sister go, or tell them and have to deal with the rejection that Shawn was feeling right now. If it was bad enough that the psychic had come to him for comfort, he was definitely considering the latter. _Spencer probably just needs to talk it out, then he'll be out of my hair._ Carlton tried to convince himself that he was just doing it to get Shawn to leave, but he _was _technically something of a friend so listening would be the right thing to do at this point."Okay Spencer, what happened?"

Shawn proceeded to tell Carlton about how the evening went. How happy his mom was that she was going to be a grandma and the look of pure terror when she found out what he was.

"So did she run away?" Carlton asked.

Shawn shook his head. "No, I did. She's probably still at my dad's. He took her luggage in the house right away so she couldn't really run if she wanted to." Shawn had shared a knowing look with him at the time. _I guess my dad is a smart guy after all._

"So does O'Hara know where you are?"

"Nope. I just kind of ended up here. Cliché I know, walking around town and ending up at your doorstep." Shawn could feel that Carlton was actually listening to him and God forbid, he actually seemed to care.

The last few months had started out awkward at best since Carlton had found out that Shawn was his sire. Shawn had been planning on keeping that information secret but things happened and the secret came out. Since then there had been an unspoken agreement to never _ever_ acknowledge their connection and Carlton got really defensive whenever Shawn brought up the fact he could feel things from him. He saw it as an invasion of privacy but it wasn't like Shawn could shut it off if he wanted to.

"Couldn't you have gone to Guster? He seems to be your usual shoulder to cry on." Carlton wondered.

Shawn leaned back into the couch and crossed his legs on the coffee table. "No can do, he's on a non-date with Coraline tonight."

Ignoring the blatant disregard for his furniture, Carlton stated, "She seems like trouble to me."

Shawn nodded contemplatively, "I agree, but you know the kind of women Gus falls for; Beautiful, smart… serial killers. The usual."

Carlton actually laughed at that. "Seems like not too long ago that was your type too."

"That is so two years ago." Shawn made a dismissive gesture. His eyes caught on the open case file for the same thefts that Juliet had given him. _Carlton must have been reading them. _"Jules gave me the case file for the spider guys too. Weird huh? Usually thieves don't want you to know when they robbed somewhere. Leaving no evidence behind then tagging the crime scene is kind of counterproductive don't you think?"

Carlton agreed. The whole thing was very mysterious and to him, mysterious was frustrating. He liked the facts, and with the case so far, the facts were few and far between.

While Carlton thought about Shawn's words, Shawn had taken his phone out and checked it. No messages. _She's probably still dealing with the fall-out. It must be bad if she hasn't called by now._

Catching the worried look Shawn gave his phone, Carlton pointed at the kitchen. "Spencer, go grab some blood, then head back to the house. I'm sure they are at least somewhat worried about you." He figured the stress had probably made it so Shawn needed to feed.

Shawn set down his phone on the coffee table and got up. "Yeah, I should have something, be right back… and thanks."

A moment after Shawn went into the kitchen his phone started to make buzzing sounds from the table. Reaching over Carlton saw it was his partner, finally calling to check up on her fiancé.

"Spencer's phone." He said simply, knowing she'd know who it really was.

_"Carlton?"_

"No, it's the Mad Hatter." He said sarcastically, "You've reached Wonderland, please leave a message after the…"

_"Carlton! Is Shawn okay?"_

He sighed, "He's fine, he just stopped over for some blood, and he'll be back soon."

"Is that Jules?!" Shawn yelled from the kitchen.

Carlton ignored him, "Is everything okay over there?"

_"Yeah, his mom is pretty shook up, but Henry says she'll be alright."_

"Good, having him show up at my door once in an eternity is all I'm going to be able to take." Carlton grumbled.

Shawn bounded into the room with a half empty glass of blood and presented his hand.

"Don't get that on my carpet." Carlton nodded towards the glass and handed him his phone.

"Heyyyy, Jules."

_"We talked to your mother, she needs a bit of space right now but she said she'd speak to you more tomorrow."_

Shawn nodded, even though he knew Juliet wouldn't be able to see it. "I figured as much. Um, I'll be over in a few minutes okay?"

Carlton tuned out the ensuing kissy noises the couple made and watched Shawn hang up the phone. "Everything alright?

"Yeah, she's just worried. Thanks for the blood, I'll see you tomorrow Lassie." Shawn gave a half-hearted wave and walked out with Carlton bolting the door behind him.

After Shawn finally left, Carlton was able to get back to what he'd been doing before he was awkwardly interrupted. Something that Shawn had said kept coming back to him.

_"Leaving no evidence behind then tagging the crime scene is kind of counterproductive don't you think?"_

"Very counterproductive…" Carlton mumbled. He'd have to let the chief know to look more into _who_ was committing the crimes. Las Arañas could be a Red Herring for the department to follow, or maybe, just maybe… they didn't care if the police knew who they were, because they were cocky enough to think they couldn't get caught. Either way, Carlton would have to do more research in the morning. He was tired and it had been a long day of fighting crime.

Going to his back room, he climbed in his freezer and stared at his picture of Marlowe that sat on the nearby table. "Two more weeks baby. Two more weeks."

* * *

Shawn waited for Juliet and his father to come outside to meet him. He didn't feel like invading his mother's space right then, plus he was tired and wanted the day to be over. Juliet came up and hugged him, which did a lot to improve his mood. His dad came over next and gave him a sad look. "Sorry kid. She just needs some time."

Shawn pursed his lips and nodded. "Kay, just- let me know when she wants to see me again."

Henry put a hand on Shawn's shoulder and gave it a squeeze, "I will kid. Go get some rest."

Juliet and Shawn went to go to their respective vehicles as they had driven to the house separately. He gave her a peck on the cheek. "I'll see you at home babe." She gave him a smile and headed to her light olive Bug.

* * *

Later that evening, well after midnight, Shawn was still lying in bed with Juliet. She had fallen asleep almost an hour ago, and Shawn would have usually crawled into his freezer by now, but he hadn't. He spent the last hour with his hand on Juliet's stomach, feeling the baby and listening to its heartbeat. He'd gotten into the habit after Juliet had rushed into the Psych office one afternoon last month exclaiming that the baby had kicked and wanted him to touch her belly.

It was a weird sensation, feeling something moving around in her stomach, but he found it oddly comforting and endlessly entertaining for Juliet when he sang to it. Both of them knew they'd never have this again. Vampires couldn't have babies and it was by some miracle they'd conceived one before he'd been turned. He wondered if the baby would be smart with great hair like him and beautiful like its mother. The perfect little Spencer.

Juliet groaned a bit when Shawn switched positions and his cold hand brushed lightly across her stomach. "_Shawn that tickles_." She mumbled before falling back asleep.

He gave an amused smirk before he decided he really should get some sleep. He was planning on doing some research before dragging Gus to the murder scene when he got up. Juliet would already be at work, but she had a habit of opening his freezer and giving him a kiss before she left. He loved that.

"Goodnight Jules…" He whispered and kissed her forehead before he left to get some shut eye himself.

* * *

Shawn got to the Psych office around 11am. As he'd thought, Gus was already there. Business had been slow as usual for private cases, maybe one or two a month, mostly from under age kids and people so desperate they figured a psychic could help them. They'd gotten some cases from the Chief but with the city forking out the funding to build a new SBPD, their consultations had been cut down for cost saving.

Taking off his sunglasses, Shawn entered the main office and smiled at the framed plaque that held their private investigator's license. The chief had made getting one part of her ultimatum for keeping him employed. As much as Shawn had weaseled out of getting one before, he kinda liked it now. It was very eye catching and gave them a bit more legitimacy with any private clients that came knocking.

"Hey buddy!" Shawn walked up to Gus' desk and slapped the file down right over his keyboard. "This just in."

Gus turned his head up and gave him a surprised sideways glance. "That better be what I think it is."

"Yep a case! Jules brought it over last night. Robberies and muuuurder." Shawn raised his eyebrows.

Gus opened the file and started looking through the contents. "Thank God. You know I've almost had to start dipping into my savings to keep this place running Shawn." After flipping through a few more pages he looked up. "Is this the case that Lassiter and Juliet have been working on?"

"Uh huh." Shawn sat in his own chair and got comfortable. "Night before last that poor bastard walked in on the thieves and was gunned down. The Chief is calling all hands on deck for this one."

Gus flipped to the picture of the skull spider. "Creepy."

"You're telling me." Shawn had never been a fan of spiders and Gus knew it. "What is the big draw about those things anyway? Beady little eyes, hairy…" He gave an involuntary shudder, trying not to picture one crawling on him…too late. "Ew."

Gus shook his head and continued to read the file as Shawn typed furiously on his laptop, researching the symbol. He didn't get much. No large or at least well publicized gangs had a spider as their symbol, at least not in America. "Man, the only thing I got for a spider gang symbol is from Hati! None are even close to the same design though."

Shrugging Gus suggested, "Gangs migrate. Maybe they are just trying to carve out new territory."

Shawn leaned back in his chair thinking, "That would explain a few things, like why they would leave nothing but that symbol behind. Probably a big, 'look at us, aren't we cool' thing."

"Maybe we should head to the crime scene. You might be able to get something from it."

Nodding, Shawn rubbed his face a bit and tried to organize his thoughts. He was still reeling from his mom's reaction and didn't quite feel top of his game.

Gus didn't miss the gesture and remembered why his friend might be stressed. "How did things go at your dad's last night?"

Putting on his happy face Shawn nodded. "Things went great. Mom was really excited about the baby." He really didn't want to talk about the other reaction so he changed the subject. "I'm going to grab something to drink then we'll head out okay?" Apparently his distraction worked and Gus started gathering up the case file without any more pushing on the subject.

* * *

After a pretty routine but busy morning at the station, Juliet and Carlton headed to the Cottage Hospital morgue to examine the body of the victim. Juliet had been bursting to know what Carlton and Shawn had talked about but for obvious reasons, she hadn't been able to ask him in a crowded station.

Finally in the privacy of Carlton's Ford Fusion she gave into her curiosity. "So, thanks for getting Shawn to come back to the house. He's been kind of flighty lately."

"Not a problem." He said simply, desperately trying to avoid the conversation he knew was coming.

"What did you talk about?" Juliet tried to insert the question nonchalantly but it came out more blurty than she'd intended.

Carlton hated being the middle man in their relationship but if she was ever going to stop bugging him he had to tell her. "He's worried you're all scared of him O'Hara. I told him he was being an idiot. End of story."

"Oh," She said quietly and stared out the window.

Carlton glanced at his partner out of the corner of his eye. Her heart had sped up, meaning she was touching on a very difficult subject for her. His eyes fell to her stomach in both concern and envy. He'd never be able to have a child with Marlowe and that killed him inside every time he acknowledged the fact that Juliet was pregnant with Shawn's baby, but he was concerned that the stress she was under wasn't good for her. It wasn't exactly Shawn's fault and it would kill him to find out just how much pressure he was putting her under, but Carlton was going to have to tell him to simmer it down a couple notches, if not for Juliet, then for the baby.

"Look O'Hara, if I've learned anything about Spencer the last few months it's that he's trying and he cares. He'll come around."

Juliet smiled, grateful for the reassurance, "Thanks partner."

* * *

Woody was eating a plate of what looked like Henry's left over fish when Juliet and Carlton arrived at the morgue. Noticing them coming, he quickly gobbled down the rest of the piece he had and dusted his hands off on his lab coat. Woody was tickled pink to see them. Having been relocated to the hospital due to the Sheriff's office not having their own morgue meant barely seeing Juliet at all, and Carlton only when he needed blood. He considered them his friends and had been getting lonely. "Detectives! Welcome!" His eyes landed on Juliet's swollen stomach. "Wow detective, been hitting the junk food a bit?"

Juliet turned red out of embarrassment and Carlton glared at the tactless coroner, "Woody, I'm pregnant."

"Ohhhh," Woody's eyes widened, "Well, that explains a lot." He nodded as if coming to a conclusion and remembered the corpse sitting in front of him. "So, I take it you're here to see the body?" He chirped excitedly.

They both nodded and he uncovered the store owner's upper torso with a flourish. The three center mass bullet wounds, if they could still be called that after the bullets were unceremoniously carved out of his flesh, were glaringly apparent and ugly looking. Carlton shook his head and grabbed the report out of Woody's outstretched hands as his partner examined the body.

"So how's Shawn?" Woody asked Juliet unexpectedly. "Henry stopped by for some blood refills and mentioned he had to break the big news to his mom."

_So that's how the fish got here._ Juliet reasoned. Henry did restock on blood every once and a while just in case Shawn needed it. Both Spencers seemed overly cautious when it came to Shawn's feeding habits and apparently it had been time to restock. "He's doing okay I guess. It's been tough for him."

Woody have an understanding nod. "I know how he feels." Carlton glanced up from the report with a raised eyebrow. "I remember how it was when I had to tell my mom I was going to become a coroner and not a brain surgeon." He laughed at the memory and shook his head, "It wasn't pretty I'll tell you that much."

Before Carlton could punch the coroner in the pie hole for making such an uneven comparison to what Shawn was having to go through, Juliet interrupted. "So, what did you find out about the body?"

"Oh right right, the body. Well as you can see he was shot three times in the chest and all the bullets were dug out." Woody pantomimed a twisting and scooping action over the bullet wounds.

"What kind of knife did this?" Carlton asked.

Woody shrugged, that detail was not important. "Standard pocket knife. They really had to dig in the body to get the bullets out. It left some metal shavings from both the bullets and the knife in the wound but I doubt we'll be able to match much up from it."

Juliet and Carlton shared a look. They were really hoping there was something to be found on the body since it was their only lead. "Is there anything else you can tell us?"

"Sorry detective, the rest of him is clean as a whistle." Woody started eyeing the rest of the plate of fish. He hadn't had anything to eat that day but some licorice sticks while examining the last body and some blue Gatorade. _Henry is a damn fine cook._

"Go ahead Strode, _sorry_ to interrupt your lunch with actual police work." Carlton grumbled. Not getting the sarcasm the coroner gratefully went back to eating the fish.

Approaching the body, Carlton bent over and sniffed it. There was a faint smell of something but after the body had been handled so much it was hard to discern the different scents.

"You getting anything?"

Carlton turned to Juliet and shook his head. "Just some lingering fear. It could be the victim's but I doubt it. The guy was dead before he hit the ground with those wounds."

Juliet looked at the body, "Then who's could it be?"

"My guess is the guy who dug the bullets out. That at least gives us some kind of guess about motive." He pointed to the bullet wounds. "Those were made with precision, the shooter knew what he was doing. The cuts though, and the fear don't match up with that. There had to have been someone else there, who wasn't as happy with the fact that they had murdered someone."

"Well, we could use that. If they weren't happy then they could come forward if they get scared enough." Juliet looked at her watch. Shawn mentioned heading to the crime scene today. He and Gus should have been there by now. Carlton wasn't able to get anything from there either but Shawn had always been able to stir up something, "I sure hope Shawn and Gus came up with more than we did."

Carlton nodded his agreement. He was more than a little pissed off they kept coming up empty handed but if there was something to be found, Shawn had a knack for seeing it. He knew the man wasn't psychic since his admission after the incident with Lance, but the guy did have a gift and hopefully it served him well enough to get them something to go on. "Let's head back to the station. The Chief will want to see the report." Juliet nodded and followed her partner out with a small goodbye wave to Woody.

"Say hi to Shawn for me!" Woody called after them.

* * *

**END NOTES: I make no apologies for adding Woody to my stories. Cannot get enough of the dude and he adds so much humor.**


	4. Dead Ends

Finally! Some action! *Makes wooshing noises as she fakes karate*

Something cool to share with you guys too! I made a movie trailer for my first story in this series "No Such Thing As Psychics"

Go to Youtube and put this behind it.../watch?v=RNBbW9zneAo

* * *

**Chapter 4- Dead Ends**

Both Shawn and Gus stared at the store in wonder and shock. The place was a dump with a capital D. With an owner whose last name was Price, Shawn expected a lot more lavish digs than a cruddy second hand store. The guy _had_ money. They found out he was a pretty well known procurer of fine jewelry so owning a place like this didn't really make any sense. Unless it was some kind of tax write off.

"Why on God's green earth would anyone want to rob _this _place?" Gus was apparently thinking along the same lines Shawn was.

Shawn raised his sunglasses to get a better look, "Nope, still shitty."

Gus sighed, _This is going to be a dead end. _"Let's get this over with. I have a couple more doctors to visit on my route before tonight."

As they went under the police tape Shawn looked back over his shoulder. The street was fairly busy but an old red junker car caught his eye. He could have sworn the occupant had been looking their way for a moment. He narrowed his eyes but another impatient shout from Gus tore his attention away. "Gus! Don't be a broken key-finder that won't stop beeping... I'm coming!"

Inside wasn't any more impressive than the outside was. The store was big enough but it was dingy and not very well lit. Shawn's eyes took in all the important details of the scene. The low light is how the owner could have walked right into the robbers without seeing them. Especially since it was night when the crime occurred. There was obviously a back door and that was how the robbers got in. The lock had been popped out and it left the door swinging freely, unable to latch again.

The main area of the store was filled with a bunch of used items, from old ratty dresses to dusty hats and some of it had been rifled through. Shawn chuckled, "Hey Gus!" As his friend turned to look he held up what had caught his attention. "A raspberry beret!" Gus gave him a blank look, "You know, the Prince song?" More blank looks, "From a second hand-*Tsk*- dude nevermind!" Shawn gave up, grumbling about how his humor is never appreciated.

"I thought the robbers never left anything behind." Gus pointed out, batting at one of the belts hanging from a display.

Shawn went around the counter and looked around. "Maybe they hadn't planned on going after the merchandise Gus." The report said the cash register had been broken into and the cash was taken, but in a place like this it couldn't have been all that much. Not worth it for as professional as this group was. "There has to be something else... Aha!" Shawn exclaimed as he saw a gap in the cheap siding covering the walls. It was a secret door hiding a rather impressive safe that had no business being there. "Gus, I know why they picked this place." He called out.

Gus eyes widened as he came around the counter himself and noticed where Shawn was crouching. "That's a Gem!"

Shawn nodded, "Yeah, Gus, it's a nice safe."

Gus pointed to the series of drawers that pulled out of the safe. "No Shawn G-E-M. They're made for jewelry and they aren't cheap."

Shawn tried to put it all together in his head. "So this Price guy must figure the best place to put his most expensive pieces of jewelry is to put them in the crappiest building he owns. No one would suspect a thing."

"Apparently someone did." Gus stood up, "I wonder how much was actually in here. If the owner was returning on a business trip, it could have been a lot... unless he sold it on the business trip, then it could have been empty." Gus looked down and had an idea. "Why don't you see what you can smell, you might get something."

Shawn glared dubiously, trying to look offended. "I _have_ solved crimes before I was a vampire you know. You mind if I do my thing?"

Gus held his hands up in surrender, "Fine..." He turned around to give Shawn some space. As soon as Gus turned away, Shawn closed his eyes and sniffed. The strongest smell that he could pick up, was the ocean.

Living next to the ocean your whole life you know what it smells like. It isn't like the air fresheners that come in the stores with names like Ocean Breeze, all flowery and nice. It smells like salt and dead plants. Seagull poop and fish guts. It's very distinct and someone who had just returned from a business trip probably wouldn't have left that scent behind. _Another clue._ Shawn puzzled.

Standing he realized he wasn't going to be able to get much more, and Juliet would want to know what he'd found. "Okay bud, we're done here." They exited the store, ducking underneath the crime scene tape and back out to the sidewalk.

"I'm starving. You mind if we hit a burger place before I bring you back to Psych?" Gus was waiting for an answer but he noticed Shawn wasn't listening.

Shawn was looking across the road again. That car he'd noticed when he entered hadn't moved and the guy had been staring at the shop again. Uneasiness crept through him and he put on his sunglasses approaching the car.

Just as Shawn thought, the man inside panicked and quickly put the car into gear, speeding off.

"What the?" Gus watched the vehicle swerve into traffic and his friend take off after it at top vampire speed. "SHAWN!"

* * *

Shawn paused as the car turned left and headed down a one way street, the wrong way. By the driver's reaction he knew that the person in that vehicle either had something to do with the robberies and murder, or knew who did it. He looked to his left and saw an empty alley. _I might just be able to cut them off at the pass..._ He turned and headed down the alley.

The alley wasn't _exactly_ empty, it was full of garbage cans, cardboard boxes and other forms of refuse that would have impeded his interception, if he wasn't an awesome vampire. He'd practiced stuff like this a little, now was the time to put it to use.

Shawn could feel his vision tunneling to acute sharpness. Instinct and training kicked in and he knew just where to plant his feet or push off with his arms to get maximum lift and propulsion. He hopped over a trash bin before kicking up onto the wall and taking a few steps on the bricks, dodging a large dumpster. He ran across the top of said dumpster before swinging off a clothes line and coming to a perfect stop at the mouth of the alley. He then sped down the street to cut off the car.

He was breathing heavily, not from exertion, but from the adrenaline. He was on a hunt, and it felt _really_ good.

Imagine the driver of the car's surprise when the guy he thought he left in the dust was suddenly standing on the sidewalk in front of him. The driver screamed and hit the gas, squealing to the right, heading towards a young boy walking his dog.

Shawn saw what was about to happen and jumped at the kid. "LOOK OUT!" He grabbed the boy who in turn kept a hold of the leash and dragged the dog with them, out of the way of the fishtailing car. Tires screeched and people screamed as the vehicle came within inches of hitting Shawn as he curled protectively around the boy.

They landed hard and Shawn glanced up. The car was driving off again, but not before Shawn noticed something about the tires, mud. It wasn't just any mud though. There was only one place in all of Santa Barbara that had mud like that. It had a distinct red tint to it and came from a few storage facilities that surrounded a lagoon near Goleta. He had a location!

"Shawn!" Gus ran up. Shawn was just getting to his feet, helped by a few bystanders who were patting him on the back for his quick save. "Are you okay?"

He nodded, "Yeah, more than okay. That was awesome!" The adrenaline hadn't worn off quite yet and he was still buzzing from the excitement of the chase.

"Thanks." The kid looked at his savior sheepishly, gripping his dog's leash tight.

"No problem little man. Wasn't your fault." He gave the kid a wave and followed Gus back to the Blueberry.

* * *

Gus looked Shawn up and down as they walked. He had seen what Shawn had done to get down the alley before the car. It would have been incredible if not for the fact that it was probably the freakiest thing he'd ever seen Shawn do.

Over the years Gus had come to terms with the fact that he and Shawn weren't twenty-eight anymore. They were, or at least in Shawn's case _had _been, getting older and slowing down. They were still young men but the case with the vigilante about a year ago made that glaringly obvious they weren't in the best of shape. Shawn had just turned thirty-five when he was turned and Gus was only a month away from his own thirty-fifth birthday. So it was pretty mind boggling seeing his best friend pull of those moves, even as a vampire.

"How did you do that?"

Shawn's eyes turned shifty, "Do what?"

"C'mon son! How did you get down that alley that fast? It wasn't just running and jumping, you were doing some pretty complicated moves."

Shawn rubbed the back of his neck shyly. "Well, I've been practicing a bit. Vampires have a weird negative gravity thing anyway and I remembered watching some videos of people jumping off buildings, running up walls, and catching ledges and figured I could do that."

Gus eyed him skeptically, "You seriously learned how to do parkour?"

"Don't make up words. Plus it's not as easy as it looks." Shawn complained as they each got in the Blueberry. "I broke my arm the first time I tried that monkey grab thing."

Gus snorted, _Yeah and it probably healed in less than a minute. _"And when do you find the time to do all this?"

Shawn frowned. "I can't sleep sometimes and need to unwind."

Gus understood what Shawn was getting at. The dreams. They were getting less frequent but Shawn had terrible nightmares. It was his mind's way of dealing with things.

"On a different note," Shawn quickly changed the subject as they pulled away from the curb, "I'm going to need you to come with me to-niiight!" Shawn sang out the last word. "I got a lead on the guy in the car. He might know something about the robberies."

"Of course you did." Gus huffed out a breath. He wasn't going to be able to make it, he had… plans. "Why don't you take Jules and Lassie this time Shawn, I'm a bit busy tonight. Coraline and I are going over a few things. We've made a bit of progress on the cure front."

"Again!? Dude this is like the fourth time this week." Shawn shook his head, "We're on a case, a case we _really_ need. So, go on your date tomorrow. We're going on a stake-out."

Gus' hands tightened on the steering wheel, "It's not a _date_ Shawn. How many times do I have to tell you that? I'm doing this for you!" Sure it was nice spending time with Coraline, but they actually were getting work done on the cure and how to remanufacture it. His knowledge of pharmaceuticals was actually paying off.

"Oh really, you hang out with a hot vampire chick all night for me? Gus, you shouldn't have." Shawn quipped dryly.

"Fine, believe what you want Shawn!" Gus was getting really angry and Shawn was pretty taken aback by just how angry. "You go and joke around all you want. But me, I'm trying like hell to find a cure for you because all I want, in this _entire_ world, is to get my friend back!"

All the blood drained from Gus' face. That had come out totally wrong. He'd meant to say get his friend "back to _normal_" but he didn't, and knew Shawn would take it the wrong way.

Sure enough, when Gus glanced at Shawn, his eyes were a the freaky shade of silvery white he'd almost gotten used to seeing, but now it was accompanied by such a look of betrayal and hatred he never thought his good natured friend was capable of.

* * *

Shawn _knew_ it. He felt sick. His best friend of all people thought of him as a freak that needed to be cured so the real Shawn would come back like nothing had happened. Just like his mom. Probably just like everyone. He could feel his rage grow and knew he needed to get away from Gus before he did anything he'd regret. "Stop the car."

"Shawn, you know I didn't mean…" Gus started.

"STOP. THE. CAR." Shawn growled quickly pulled over and Shawn slid out of the Blueberry, slamming the door.

"Shawn! It's the middle of the day! Get back here! I'm sorry!" Gus yelled out the window as Shawn stormed away, not even bothering to put his sunglasses back on. He just kept walking. Then before he knew it he was running. Holding back the urge to tear apart the first thing he came in contact with. He ducked into an alley as the Blueberry whizzed by him at a slow, "Gus must be searching for him" pace.

He rested his head on the brick wall and punched it, hard, trying his best to quell one pain with another. _How could Gus say that?_ Part of him knew that it was probably a slip of the tongue but he knew enough psychology to realize that Freudian slips were usually the true thoughts a person has coming out unexpectedly.

He spun around and leaned against the side of the building, clenching hand and wincing as the bones popped back into place. Soon there was no physical evidence of his outburst than some lingering blood and a cracked brick wall.

His phone chose that time to ring. He glanced at the screen, it was Juliet. He groaned. Not because he didn't want to talk to her, but because if he didn't get it together quickly she would know something was wrong. Even over the phone. Which was a bummer because had wanted to stay mad for at least another five minutes or so. _I deserve it dammit._ He answered on the third ring, trying to sound chipper. "Jules! What's shaking?"

_"Shawn, Carlton and I got done talking to Woody and came up empty on the body. Could you and Gus come down to the station to let the chief know what you guys found at the store?"_

"Uh," Shawn tried to think quickly. Showing up without Gus during a case would raise some red flags, but he knew his friend would feel guilty enough to not call him or anyone else for at least a couple hours so the jig wouldn't be up right away if he told a _little_ fib. "Gus has something going on tonight and had to head out, but I can stop by."

_"Great! We'll meet you there. Can't wait to see you."_

Shawn made the usual kissy noises in the phone before hanging up and dialing for a ride. His dad's house wasn't too far away and he needed to talk to him anyway. He sure as heck wasn't going to get far in the sun and he needed to get to Psych and get his car.

_"Hello?"_ Henry answered.

"Um, hey dad. How are... _things?_" Shawn asked unsurely.

Shawn heard the sigh from his dad's end of the phone and knew his mom must still not be ready to talk. _"Now's not the best time Shawn. I'm going to take your mother out to supper and see if I can get any further, but she's still pretty shaken up."_

"Oh.. . I see." His dad wanted to spend some time with his mom. _Why can't he just say that and not jerk me around?_ "I hope you two have a good time." Shawn did nothing to hide the scorn in his voice.

_"Shawn! Your mother and I have a lot to discuss. She's just not ready kid. It's a lot to process and forcing it on her isn't going to help matters."_

"Yeah, you go discuss things." Shawn hung up and growled. A couple passing the alley heard him and quickened their pace away. This day just kept getting better and better.

* * *

After hanging up with Shawn, Juliet was sure something was off but she chalked it up to things with his mother. Juliet didn't envy her boyfriend's position and figured he was taking it as well as could be expected. She busied herself with some paperwork until he decided to show up.

Shawn arrived twenty minutes later, disheveled and a little dirty. "Shawn!" Juliet waved her boyfriend over to her desk. "Are you okay?" She noticed his haggard appearance but his features were happy so she didn't worry about it much.

He nodded before giving her a quick kiss on the lips and a rub on the stomach. Getting down to business he asked. "What's the good word Jules?" Shawn looked around, "Where's Lassie?"

"Talking to the chief." Juliet waved off the question. She really needed to know if they found anything at the store. "Tell me you got something. We keep coming up with dead ends."

Shawn was wary of what he should tell her. These people were seeming more dangerous by the minute. Anyone who would risk running over a kid and his puppy were pretty bad in his book and he didn't want the woman pregnant with his ONLY chance at a child to run head long into danger. Plus, he needed some time alone.

After the admission from Gus and his mother's refusal to speak to him, he was really unhappy and didn't want to subject Juliet to his moping. A walk and a stake-out was just what he needed to clear his head, but he had to give her something. She would never believe he of all people came up empty. "Well, we found out why the store was targeted. The dude had the idea of the year to hide his most valuable stuff at a dump."

Juliet nodded, "That's something at least. I'll let the Chief know and we'll go check for prints later."

Shawn combed a hand through his hair. "I'm going to give my dad a call and see how my mom's doing. See if she even wants to see me." The lie felt sour on his tongue.

Juliet rubbed his arm comfortingly. "Do you need me to come with?"

"Nah, I need some alone time to talk to her. I probably won't be home till late too." _That should give me some time to do a bit of investigating._ Shawn reasoned. He saw Carlton coming out of the chief's office and figured he should cut their conversation short lest the detective's super hearing pick up on the bullshit he was spewing. He felt bad about lying to Juliet, but once he figured it would be safe enough for her to approach the bad guys, he would let her know. "I'll catch you later sweetie." With one more peck on the cheek he jogged back out of the Sheriff's Office.

Carlton walked up never seeing that Shawn had been there as his attention was immersed in a case file. However, he stopped in his tracks after catching a distinct scent. "Are you okay O'Hara?"

Confused by her partner's question she replied, "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, if it isn't you, someone around here is pissed as hell." He snorted and shook his head, trying to get the unpleasant odor out of his nose then leered around for the culprit.

He never noticed Juliet's head turn towards the precinct doors with apprehension. _Was Shawn that upset?_ She hadn't noticed, but he was always very good at hiding his real intentions or emotions. When he got back home from talking to his mom she'd have to see what was the matter. For now, she had a murder to solve.

* * *

As soon as it was dark, Shawn set out for the Goleta storage yard near Devereux Lagoon. He'd actually had enough time to plan ahead, since he didn't have to wait for Gus' complaining or preening beforehand. Till Gus wasn't there, Shawn had never noticed how much time that took up. Despite that fact he would have liked his best friend there. It just didn't feel right without him.

Shawn parked his vehicle a good ways away from where he wanted to be. His car wasn't all that inconspicuous, being hot green. The Psych logo on it was also kind of a dead giveaway who it belonged to. Not conductive for sneakiness.

The storage yard was not huge, but it wasn't small. Buildings of every size littered the fifteen acre plot of land with different purposes. He knew it well because his dad used to use storage there when he was a kid, and he used to complain about the red dirt ruining his shoes.

There was movement in a couple parts of the property, that is where his disguise came in handy. The homeless bum he once labeled "Soup Can Sam" lived again. Or at least the beard did. No one was really around to ask him who he was trying to be, so he hadn't been creative enough to come up with a name for this incarnation.

He slinked around the side of a few buildings, looking for the beat up red vehicle from earlier that day, while listening to the conversations going on around him.

"This shipment needs to be out by 9am guys!" Shawn heard a man shout. _This sounds promising. _"Bring in the truck, we need to get the stuff in quick before it thaws!"

_Never mind._ The thieves weren't dealing in frozen goods. That he knew of anyway. He halted his progress forward and closed his eyes, concentrating…

"Zack this is getting dangerous." A slightly Hispanic accented voice scolded. "The cops are onto us. We gotta lay low or get the hell out of here."

"Bingo!" Shawn exclaimed quietly and moved closer to the building, spotting the red car parked next to it.

"You had to kill that guy didn't you!" The same voice yelled at Zack.

"He was supposed to be outta town. It was your screw up. Not mine. I was just the only one with the stones to take care of the problem Carlos."

Shawn had names, and a place. That was all he needed. He backed up around the corner of the building and was about to turn and get the hell out of there when he noticed another man standing by the back door, smoking. He'd been seen, too wrapped up in listening to one conversation he forgot the basic teaching his father had instilled from almost birth. Count the number of hats, or in his case… heartbeats.

"Hey! Who are you?" The man shouted, snuffing out his cigarette and moving towards Shawn menacingly. The man was short, but agile looking with very jerky and mousey movements. If anything in this gang, he would be the lookout.

Getting into character, Shawn held up his hands. "Hey mista, you got any spare change?" He used his best gravelly voice that would have done Batman proud. He stumbled forward drunkenly, grasping the guy's clothes as if he tripped, sneaking his hand inside the guy's pockets in the process. If he could get a driver's license, the cops would have them dead to rights.

Shawn was pushed back violently, "Get off me man!" The mousey guy pulled out a knife as Shawn covertly pocketed the man's wallet.

_Okay… they _are _serious._ Even though a knife wouldn't exactly hurt him much, it showed a lot about the character of the people he was up against. _Jules is definitely staying home for this one._ "Sorry, my mistake man…" Shawn backed up and realized something was wrong. More scents filled the air, the guy's back up was coming. Before he could turn around a cold barrel was shoved up against the back of his head.

He was expecting a "Don't move." or the cliché, "Hands in the air." Just that _one second_ of distraction where he could use his vampire speed to get the hell out of there or his charming banter to talk his way out, but it didn't happen.

As soon as he felt the barrel, the gun went off and he fell limply to the ground and remained motionless.

* * *

**END NOTES: *Gasp* Yes I can be that mean to Shawn, and it's going to get a lot worse. From this point on, the story is gonna get darker. :)**


	5. The Spider or the Fly

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: A toughie to write this one. It's always hard introducing original characters, let alone a gang of them. I hope it isn't too confusing. :)**

* * *

"Will you walk into my parlor?" said the spider to the fly;  
"'Tis the prettiest little parlor that ever you may spy.  
The way into my parlor is up a winding stair, And I have many curious things to show when you are there."  
"Oh no, no," said the little fly; "to ask me is in vain,  
For who goes up your winding stair can ne'er come down again."

- Mary Howitt; _The Spider and the Fly_

* * *

_**Chapter 5- The Spider and the Fly**_

"Oh my GOD Ben! What did you do that for?" The mousy guy, Sam, shouted. He'd only intended to scare the homeless man off with the knife and the idiot had to go shoot him in the back of the head. Ben had been really unhinged lately, and Zack, their leader, seemed to be the only one able to keep him in line. Sure Zack had killed someone too, but it was necessary at the time. This… was just plain murder.

Ben tucked his .22 cal back in his jacket and shrugged as if killing a man in cold blood was just 'same shit, different day.' Three other men ran around the corner, wondering what the gunfire was about. They flanked Ben and looked at the body.

Carlos, Zack's second in command stepped forward with his hands on his head. "What did you do?!" He took in Shawn's appearance. He looked like a street guy but the outer clothes were a bit too clean for him to be homeless. "He could be a cop!"

"It was just a bum. He could've ratted us out." Ben kicked at the body. Blood was starting to form a large pool by his head.

When no one moved Zack stepped forward and took charge. He'd have to punish Ben for this, but right now they needed to get out of sight. "Someone could have heard that. Pick him up and bring him in."

The largest member, a red haired man named Adam, lifted Shawn's body and started to move him, making the sign of the cross for the poor sap that just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"WAIT!" Zack held up his hands for him to stop as soon as Shawn's face was off the ground. He leaned in closer noticing the straps and pulled off the fake beard and ratty hat. The man looked fairly clean shaven and certainly _wasn't_ just a street bum. "This could be bad." He stated while holding up the beard.

Carlos groaned. He hated being right all the time. "I _told_ you he was a cop! You killed a cop man!" He lunched at Ben, fully intending to kick the other man's ass. "You idiot!"

Zack held Carlos back and nodded at Adam who obediently punched Ben in the face. "Shit!" Ben screamed and held his broken nose .

"Serves you right asshole." Adam growled.

As the gang's leader, Zack had to keep the others in their place. They weren't a large group, but each had their role to play and so far, they'd been unstoppable and untraceable. Ben however, was quickly becoming a liability. He was their wild card, but it was like training a dog. The only thing a man without a conscience understands is pain. So Zack had to dish it out whenever their resident sociopath needed a lesson.

He led the way back into the storage facility where they were keeping their unsold stash. It wasn't huge by any means and had been a fish sorting plant back in the day. That kind of smell never gets out of a place, but it was practically their home.

Different variations of their signature spider dotted the walls randomly. Zack was a hell of an artist, but even perfection needs practice. They'd originally had eight members back in San Antonio. That's why they chose a spider. Eight people, eight legs. The other three got caught before they had to make a run for it a couple months ago. From then on, the remaining five had been careful. Leaving no trace. No trace. No arrest. It had worked out well so far.

Zack pointed to a clear spot in the floor. "Set him down." He watched as Adam set the body down and looked disapprovingly at the trail of blood leading from outside. That would need to get taken care of too. "Sam, grab some ammonia and clean up the blood."

"Aw man no…" Sam complained. They had made him dig out bullets and now this? He'd be damned if he was digging the bullet out of that guy's head too. The look Zack gave him was enough to stop any more whining and he went to go get the gloves and rags.

Zack circled Shawn's body before reaching down to search his pockets, trying to find some identification. He pulled out a regular wallet and a green cased I-Phone that would probably go for a couple hundred easy. "This guy isn't a cop. No badge." He waved the wallet at the group and looked through it. There wasn't much; just a couple twenties, a coupon for Jappa Dogs that expired four months before, a driver's license with the name Shawn Spencer, and a few business cards with the Psych logo and a phone number.

"Apparently this guy was a psychic detective." Zack chuckled. _People will believe anything nowadays._

"He shoulda seen that coming then." Ben smirked.

Carlos looked apprehensive, "If he was a detective he'd have someone looking for him soon, we need to get this body out of here now!"

Zack would have had Adam punch Carlos if he was anyone else, but every good leader needs a wingman who isn't afraid to voice his own opinions. Especially when those other opinions usually end up being right. He nodded his consent. "Adam, get some plastic and get him to the car. We'll dump him in the lagoon."

Adam gave a single nod and picked Shawn up again so they could slide the plastic under him. A small metallic *tink* sound caught everyone's attention. The four men looked down and saw a small, bloody .22 caliber bullet lying on the ground.

Carlos bent over and examined it. "What the hell?" He'd heard scalp wounds bleed a lot but there was no way this didn't lodge all the way in the man's head. _I can't believe I'm about to do this. _"Put him down a sec."

Curious at what his second was doing, Zack stepped forward and watched as he put two fingers to Shawn's neck. Shawn let out a small moan and went still again. Carlos stepped back with a gasp of, "Dios mio! The guy is alive!"

"There's no way." Ben strode forward and checked himself. A cold look crossed his features and he pulled out his knife. "Not for long anyway." He was just about to slash Shawn's throat when Zack stopped him.

"Don't even think about it." Zack glared at Ben till he put the knife away.

"That's right. We need to get this guy to a hospital." Adam pitched in.

Zack looked at Adam sharply. That kind of thinking would get them arrested. "No. That's not what I meant."

"No? What do you mean no? The guy could be dying. We aren't murderers!" Carlos saw the cold stare and knew there was no changing Zack's mind.

Zack turned his gaze to Adam. "Get a chair." He turned to Ben, "Get some of that wire rigging that's lying around, and you," He turned to Carlos, "help me lift him. If he's alive then he can talk. We need to know how much he knows, and how many are after us."

Carlos nodded sadly. He hated that Zack was right. They needed to know whether they needed to beat feet or not. If they left, it meant leaving the stash. There was no way they were going to get everything loaded up tonight, and there was a lot of money sitting in this place. He'd do what Zack said, but it didn't mean he had to like it. "Fine."

As they were bending over to lift Shawn, Sam came back in with a hand full of rags and a bottle of chemicals. He glanced at the scene of his crew mates tying a supposed dead man to a chair. "Okay, what'd I miss?"

* * *

"Gus!" Coraline called him over to one of the booths in the corner. She saw him smile and he headed towards her. They usually met for coffee once a week but Coraline just happened to stay in town last night and wanted to meet again. She did enjoy the company. He was smart and handsome. Two qualities she loved in a man.

"Sorry I'm late."

"It's okay. I was just going over some notes." As Gus came closer, Coraline could tell something was off. He didn't smell right. It was hard to tell through the lavender he wore all the time, but he definitely smell stress. "What's wrong?"

Gus frowned as he slid into the booth facing Coraline. _Of course she'd know there was something wrong. _He wondered what emotions smelled like. He'd been fuming at himself all afternoon for the slip up with Shawn and didn't want Coraline to think he had anything against her either. _Maybe she could give me some advice._ He wondered and decided to spill the beans. "I messed up with Shawn. He was pulling his usual snarky stunts, saying we're going out and I told him that we are working on a cure so I can get my friend back." Gus stared down at his hands, ashamed.

Coraline was quiet for a minute. She understood, having seen that humanity was the gift, not vampirism. It's why she started trying to find the cure in the first place. Reaching across the table, she put her hand on Gus'. He flinched away, not out of fear, but because her hands were a bit cold. "Did things go well with his mother?" She'd heard he was going to tell her, even though she didn't agree with it. Anyone who knew about vampires was a liability and could potentially give away their secret.

Gus thought about it. "Shawn didn't say much. It seems like things went okay. He was in a good mood before my comment."

"He's probably just hurt then. He'll cool off."

"No," Gus shook his head, "You don't know Shawn. I haven't seen him that angry."

She realized something and sighed. "Remember what I told you about Shawn's line being empathetic?"

Gus nodded. The older lines each seemed to have some extra "gift." Shawn's was feeling their fledgling's pain and emotions, as well as feeling strong emotions of those around him. "He's never mentioned it though."

Coraline shrugged, "He probably doesn't even know he's doing it. It takes time and practice and is a lot more subtle than Carlton's emotions. He was probably picking up on your frustration, plus we're very emotional creatures to begin with. That's why it's important for us to learn control."

"You sound like Vulcans."

Coraline laughed hard. She liked Gus' sense of humor. "I guess so."

Gus smiled. "So, you said you came up with something new?" He sipped at his coffee.

"I found a flower." Gus' eyes lit up. They had been searching for similar plants to the one that the temporary cure compound was similar to. It was incredibly rare and presumed extinct. Her plan before had been to introduce the properties of the temporary cure into another flower. The permanent cure they had developed from it was used up on Coraline's brother Lance and was therefore lost. Coraline had to start over from scratch and her saying she found _anything_ to help was a huge step.

"Great! What is it?"

"It has some of the same properties as the flower for the compound, but in a lot lower doses. I need to see what I can do with it but I figured you would be interested to know, since you've been a huge help." Gus' input on the different immune boosting drug properties and general pharmaceutical knowledge had helped her get this far.

Gus opened his mouth to say he'd have to tell Shawn, but he would be surprised if his friend was speaking to him this soon. He figured it would be at least a day or so before he'd speak to him.

Coraline didn't miss the dejected look. "Did you want me to talk to him for you?"

"I don't know." Shawn was nice to Coraline when he saw her, but from everything his friend had heard about her from Mick, his view of her was pretty skewed.

She frowned. "I get it, it's okay. Just let me know if I can help."

"Thanks."

An hour later, Gus and Coraline parted ways with her kissing him on the cheek. It was unexpected and left him standing there with a shocked expression and his hand on his cheek where her lips had been. He shook himself from his paralysis and watched her leave. She was a hard one to understand.

He looked at his phone and frowned. There were no messages. It wasn't too late and he probably would have had time to go on the stake-out with Shawn. Now he'd have to spend the rest of the night watching wrestling without his buddy, who would hopefully forgive him soon.

* * *

"Mmmmggg..." Juliet groaned as she woke up. It was getting harder and harder to move each morning and muster up the energy to get out of her comfy bed. It took a moment to register that the sun was out and that Shawn hadn't woken her when he got home. Sitting up and looking around she noticed the closet door was closed. Shawn usually kept it open when he slept.

Juliet hopped out of bed and opened the doors. It was empty. _Did Shawn even come home last night?_ She went over to the night stand and looked at her phone. No messages. The last thing she knew he was supposed to meet with his mom and spend some time working on stuff at Psych. She hoped things went well with his mom.

After calling Shawn's phone twice and getting no answer, she called Henry.

_"Spencer here."_

"Hi, it's Juliet. I'm probably freaking out about nothing right now but Shawn didn't come home after meeting with his mom last night and I was wondering how things went."

_"What are you talking about? Shawn never saw his mom. I told him she still needed some time and to call back today."_

"So things didn't go well..." Juliet bit her lip. She should have gone with her gut that something was wrong when Shawn came into the station.

_"He hung up on me and accused me of wanting to spend time with her myself." _Henry grumbled, obviously upset.

"Well thanks. I'll try Gus. Maybe they spent the night watching movies at his apartment." Shawn had his own ways of dealing with stress. All night movie binges were one of them.

_"Let me know if you get a hold of him. We need to talk."_

"Okay, I will. Give Madeline my best." She hung up and immediately dialed Gus who answered in a very sleepy voice. Apparently he'd had a late night.

_"Burton Guster."_

"Gus it's me... I was wondering if Shawn spent the night over there. He didn't come home and isn't answering his phone."

_"Shawn didn't come home?"_ His worried tone didn't help Juliet's already anxious mood. _"When did you last see him?"_

"He came to the station after you guys went to investigate the store. He said you had stuff to do and couldn't come. He lied to me about going to see his mom. Henry said she hadn't cooled down enough to see him yet."

_"What? Shawn made is sound like things went well with his mom. He never acted like anything was wrong. Oh my God, this is all my fault."_

The last thing Juliet wanted to do was listen to one of Gus' melt downs but she had to know what he thought was his fault. She squinted her eyes suspiciously, "What do you mean this is all _your _fault?"

She could hear Gus hesitate, _"It just slipped out Juliet..."_ Gus proceeded to tell Juliet what happened between the two of them and how angry Shawn was when he stormed off.

Juliet could see why Shawn had seemed off to her. His father and his best friend had spurned him within minutes of each other. "No wonder Carlton said someone was pissed. Between you and his dad he must have been furious." She wished she could kick herself hard for ignoring the signs. Even angry though, she didn't think Shawn wouldn't check in with her. He had promised to see her in the morning. "Did he say anything else? Anywhere he could have gone?"

_"Oh no. He said he got something on where the thieves were hiding. He wanted me to go with but then... ya know."_

Juliet put her hand to her mouth. _He wouldn't go by himself would he?_ She already knew the answer to that though. He would go in a heartbeat, it was his nature. He was just to curious for his own good. "Okay, we're not going to panic. I'm going to call Henry and Carlton and have them meet us at the station and see if we're overreacting."

_"Alright. I'll be there in a few."_

Juliet hung up the phone and dropped down to sit on the bed. _Why would Shawn _lie_ about this?_ She tried his number a few more times, just in case. Still getting nothing, she resigned herself to call in the troops, praying to herself that they really _were _overreacting and her boyfriend was just fine.

* * *

The first thing Shawn thought as he regained consciousness was, "Ooooowwww!" The second thing that happened is he had a panic attack. The pain in his head coupled with the fact that he had no idea where he was, made it really really difficult not to vamp out.

He heard someone shout in surprise and apparently he hadn't exactly done the "Ow thing" as silent as he thought he did. Doing his best to calm himself and failing miserably, he opened up one eye, afraid of what he might see. Shawn noticed the sun was up and streaming through the high storage building windows. He turned his head and regretted it as something seemed to pop back into place sending a twinge of pain down his spine. All around him were stacks of organized loot that was probably worth thousands of dollars, and if he didn't know where he was before... the spider symbols all over the walls were a dead give away. _Jules is going to kill me._

Two men were approaching him and arguing. One was the mousy man from before who pulled a knife on him. The other was a burly red head. They seemed concerned by the fact that he was alive, let alone conscious and moving around. "Sam, go get Zack. Tell him he's awake." The red haired one ordered.

Sam didn't argue, he sped off in the direction of an office.

While the red haired man watched Sam go, Shawn quickly tried to figure out his situation. Another turn of his head brought more stiffness though his headache seemed to be subsiding quickly. He felt the sticky but crusty feeling of blood around his neck area and lower back where it had dried. The bastards had shot him in the head. At least he knew now that he could survive that type of thing for the next time it happened, which Shawn hoped was never.

He tested his bonds. Hoping they used regular rope so he could just break out. No such luck. Whatever they tied him up with seemed to be strong, and they had his hands tied behind him on a metal folding chair. It was insanely uncomfortable.

"Don't try to move." The red haired man said and Shawn shot him a glare before realizing that the man was saying it with concern. He walked over to a cooler and took out a bottle of water.

Shawn almost laughed and tried to figure out the game these guys must be playing. He had never heard of gang members playing "Good cop, bad cop." Suddenly the water was in his face and he moved his head to get away from it, causing something else to pop. "OW... God!"

The man gave him a grumpy look and stepped back, "Suit yourself man, it's a miracle you're even alive."

Squinting, Shawn took in the man's appearance. Big guy, dirty hands, still had his blood on them. Probably from picking him up and moving him inside. _Must be the muscle_. Also, the man had a cross necklace. Shawn figured the guy might be religious and hoped he'd be able to use that to his advantage when they tried to kill him again, because they _would_ try to kill him again. Unfortunately, like the last time they tried to kill him. It wouldn't work, and worse case scenario, they'd find out why. One thing was for sure, they weren't going to let him go.

_Jules is _really_ going to kill me._

* * *

**END NOTES: When I was trying to figure out a title for the chapter, I remembered that poem and it really seemed to fit the tone of the chapter. They feel like Shawn is a fly, caught in their web, but maybe soon, they'll find out who really has the fangs in this situation. :D**


	6. Missing In Action

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: This one isn't as long as I usually do, but it has the Shawn whump I promised! Enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter 6- Missing In Action**

Carlton had risen bright and early in order to go see Marlowe before work. He'd been going every day lately and both of them were counting down the two weeks before her release. Yes, she would be on probation, but she would be out and free to live with him in the home he'd made.

"Hey Honey Bear." She purred as he approached.

As he sat down he threaded his fingers through the grate and she did the same. It was the only real contact they were allowed. Carlton had ended up on the prison's crap list when he'd blatantly disregarded the rules and kissed her a few months ago. So he reciprocated and put them on his crap list. It was only two more weeks anyway.

Marlowe made her pouty face when she saw Carlton's smile falter. "What's wrong lover? Not enough sleep again today?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't Spencer's fault this time… well, it kind of was, but not directly." Carlton couldn't figure out the right words for what he was feeling.

"What do you mean?"

"You know how I told you yesterday Spencer told his mom about his," he looked at the guard and lowered his voice, "_condition_ and it got me wondering again if I should tell my family when they come to meet you."

Marlowe sighed. The topic was something they'd discussed more than once. She could see where it would be nice to have his family know about him so he wouldn't have to leave them, but she wouldn't be able to bear it if they left him. She would seriously snap on them for turning away her loyal, strong, caring, man.

"Carlton, lets just wait a bit and see how things go before you jump into it. You have a _lot_ of time."

He smiled at her joke. "Yeah, I guess I do."

Carlton was just about to chance kissing her again, guards be damned, when his phone went off. Growling in frustration he quickly flipped it open. "What?!"

_"Carlton, we need you down at the station right now."_ Juliet said in a panic.

His eyes flicked to Marlowe, "Can't it wait? I'm a bit busy."

"Shawn is missing." He could now hear the emotion in her voice. She wasn't just panicking, she was getting hysterical.

"Son of a...I'll be there in five." He hung up cursing Spencer and his damn luck.

"What is it?" Marlowe asked concerned.

Carlton curled his lip, "Spencer is in trouble. I have to go." He gave her fingers a squeeze and hurried out of the prison. He jumped in his car and sped away towards the station. _Spencer you better be okay or I will kill you myself for making O'Hara worry so much... it isn't good for the baby._

* * *

After a couple minutes of awkward silence between him and his religious captor, Shawn started to get his bearings. His headache was gone, and he was thinking much clearer. The shooting pains had stopped too. His stomach turned when he realized the pains and the popping was his skull repairing itself. Ew.

Three more guys walked up with Sam in tow. Shawn could only assume that the one in front with the determined look on his face was Zack. He had light brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and eyebrows that rivaled Jack Nicholson's. He wasn't all that physically imposing, but Shawn knew he had to be smart to leave no traces and leave the cops scrambling, even after shooting someone.

Next to him was a Hispanic looking man that was in his mid-20s like the rest of them. He could only be the one that was arguing with Zack right before Shawn was shot, Shawn remembered the name. Carlos.

The other one, whose name Shawn wasn't sure of had blond hair and was tall, but skinny. He was also insane. Shawn knew that look and had seen that kind of stare before, many times. None of them were very fond memories and brought back flashes of a curly black haired woman smiling widely and saying his name reverently. After shaking away the memory he noticed the blond man also had a broken nose. _Interesting._

The fear that he wasn't going to get out of this unscathed built up inside of him again, threatening to bubble to the surface. If it was just him, he'd probably risk bullshitting his way out, but he had other people depending on him now.

Knowing he had to think fast to put them off their game, Shawn figured it was worth it to play psychic, they had most definitely found his wallet, and business card by now. Scared and angry people were never very analytical, one of the useful things his father taught him, and any advantage he could muster while tied to a chair was a step in the right direction.

Before any of them could say anything, he turned to the leader "Hey Zack right? Listen, could you and Carlos over there do me a favor and loosen these straps, they're starting to chafe and my skin is really sensitive." He turned to the crazy guy. "Thanks for shooting me. Next time be a dear and give a little warning." There were only two choices of who could have done that; the red haired guy who tried to hand him water and the crazy guy... so the answer was pretty obvious.

All five men stood staring at Shawn in disbelief. Zack finally turned to Adam in anger. "What the hell are you telling him our names for _Adam_?" He annunciated the name in retaliation.

Adam opened his mouth to protest that he hadn't said anything, but Shawn cut in. "Didn't you guys know already? Feels like you wouldn't be all that good of a criminal if you didn't take someone's wallet and pilfer a bit. I am psychic." He pulled on his bindings a bit. "I would strike my usual pose but, ya know. The whole tied up thing, but usually it is a lot more impressive when I have a vision." Shawn smiled internally as each of their heartbeats sped up in shock and worry and the scent of fear hit the air. It wasn't until then that Shawn started to feel how hungry he was. He'd obviously lost a lot of blood, and would need more soon, which meant he had even less time to get out of this than he thought.

Ben, hated being made fun of and sprung into action before Adam or Zack could stop him. His knife was at Shawn's throat, pressing down. "You think you're funny? How are you even alive? I practically saw your brains leak out _psychic._"

Shawn took shallow breaths, "Metal plate in my head?" When he saw Ben's eyes narrow he made up a different excuse, "My dad always said my head was the hardest substance in the world..." Ben's weight was suddenly pulled off of him and he could breathe normally again. "I know someone who runs a pet store, you can get a rather fashionable choker chain for him."

If Zack wasn't sure Ben would kill him in his sleep for laughing he would have. He stepped forward, Adam had warned him that the guy might be really out of it, but if he was lucid enough to be an ass he was lucid enough to be asked questions. Getting right in Shawn's face he asked, "How did you find us?"

Shawn turned his face away a bit. It wasn't a smart move for the guy to stick his face right next to a hungry vampire. He tried to keep his humor intact as he struggled to ignore the hunger pains beginning to take hold. "I took that left turn at Albuquerque. Contrary to popular belief, it really doesn't take you where you wanna go."

Thankfully for Shawn, Zack stepped back while wearing an amused smirk. "Okay smartass." Zack looked to Adam to do his job.

Adam couldn't believe Zack wanted him to hit a guy who had an obvious head wound. "I don't think..."

"I don't have you around to think." Zack spat. He was getting impatient, thinking they wasted their time on this guy enough.

With a glare at Zack, Adam stepped up and did as he was told. Rearing his fist back he brought it square onto the side of Shawn's jaw.

Shawn pitched to the side violently. The guy hit like a truck. He clenched his teeth, which popped his jaw back into place, and forced himself not to vamp out from the pain. _Calm blue ocean... calm blue... _Another smack in the face almost broke his resolve as well as his nose. Luckily two hits was all he was getting for this round. Blood flowed a little bit from his nose and he groaned, not so much from the pain, but from holding back his anger.

Zack knelt down, in front of Shawn again. The psychic was sweating and practically shaking. "Ready to answer my question now?"

Shawn brought his head up, and glared. "Which question would that be? How did I find you or I am ready to answer now?"

"Either." Zack glared back. He'd never met such a difficult guy in his life.

Shawn tried to keep a neutral expression on his face as he came up with a plan. _If I can just get out of the chair, I'll be able to run out of here._ "You know, you did shoot me in the head. Things are a bit fuzzy right now." He twisted his hand and touched his bindings. His heart sank. They'd used ship rigging, which was essentially braided steel that could hold hundreds of pounds. Vampires were strong, but not that strong. _Can't get out that way._

"Hit him again Adam."

Shawn looked up in horror and shook his head frantically, "No Adam, don't hit him again!"

Adam wrinkled his nose in disgust, but pulled his hand back for the punch anyway. Shawn flinched and braced for the impact but Carlos stepped between them to stop him, while addressing Zack. "Dude, he's had enough!"

Shawn peeked one eye open and began to relax, but it was a bit too soon.

Ben rolled his eyes. If Adam didn't have the stomach to hit him, he would do it. He launched himself at Shawn, his arms swinging. Shawn wasn't prepared and was hit by surprise as his flimsy chair fell backwards and Ben landed on top of him, still trying to punch.

That was all it took for Shawn to break. Instinct broke through and he lashed out with his teeth biting down on the flesh of Ben's left arm.

"AH!" Ben screamed and pulled back and away from Shawn's face. Teeth marks marred his forearm, and blood flowed freely.

Shawn growled and snapped at him again, causing the entire group to back up in fear. "What the hell!? Can psychics do that!?" Sam screamed as he saw Shawn's fangs.

It took a moment for Shawn to regain control and realize what he had done. He leaned back, panting and licking the blood off his lips. "Shit. That wasn't supposed to happen." He groaned. The bad thing was the small taste he had gotten, had made him hungrier.

"Someone get something! I'm bleeding here!" Ben yelled at his stupefied gang members.

Carlos was the first to react. He grabbed part of a towel and put pressure on Ben's wound. Shawn had really gotten a hold of him and it was pretty deep. As he tried to stop Ben's bleeding Carlos stared at Shawn. "What the hell is it?"

That got Shawn's attention. His white eyes settled on Carlos, "I am _not_ an _it._ Thank you very much, and _he_ started it!" Shawn moved his head in Ben's direction. The cat was very fully out of the bag for him. All the secrecy that Mick had trusted him with was undone instantly because of a group of kids who were good at stealing, and had delusions of grandeur. He closed his eyes tightly, cursing his luck.

"What the hell do we do man? We captured a God Damn vampire!" Sam exclaimed. "That's what he is right? A vampire?"

"Will everyone just shut the hell up! I need to think!" Zack got as close to Shawn as he dared. "Adam, pick him up."

"Damn it..." Adam cursed and bent down, picking up Shawn's chair, making sure Shawn wasn't able to reach him with his teeth. It was creepy enough for him that the vampire was staring at him with silvery white eyes.

Zack turned his back on Shawn and motioned for everyone to follow him in a huddle.

Shawn watched as they whispered and looked his way. _That can't be good._ He closed his eyes and listened carefully.

"What do we do with him?" Carlos was asking.

Zack looked Shawn's direction and frowned. "Quit looking at me like I know shit. You guys have seen the same movies as me."

Ben however, was smiling despite the wound on his arm. "Dude, he bit me. Ask him if I'll become a vampire."

"Do you really think this guy is going to give us a straight answer?" Zack deadpanned. The guy had been difficult when they thought he was _human._

"_I _think he can hear us." Adam stated and all heads turned Shawn's way.

By then Shawn's features had turned back to normal. He was feeling sarcastic enough to grin creepily at them. If they were going to keep him captive, he sure as hell wasn't going to make it easy on them. Not at all. It's not like he had much time anyway. If he didn't feed soon, one of two things would happen, either he would die... or they would.

"Worst... options... ever." Shawn sighed and hung his head.

* * *

Everyone arrived at the station at about the same time. Juliet had called Chief Vick on her way so she was waiting for them in her office. Once inside everyone started talking all at once.

Karen held up her hands and yelled. "Sit down everyone!" They all stopped arguing immediately and sat down in chairs across from the chief's desk. "Now, Detective O'Hara, when is the last time anyone has heard from Shawn?"

"I think it was when he left the station yesterday evening. Carlton said he... smelled... upset." Carlton nodded in agreement. "He wouldn't just run off Chief. He wouldn't leave me and the baby."

"Has anyone contacted Mick St. John? Maybe he went to visit and calm down after the incident with his mother." Juliet had told Karen about the dinner yesterday. She couldn't say she blamed Madeline for her reaction. Her own hadn't been any better.

"Listen, I know my son. He can be childish and irresponsible, but since he found out about the baby, he would _never _leave like this without saying anything to anyone." Henry confirmed.

Gus interjected, "He said he had some clues that told him where the Las Arañas gang was. He might have gone after them alone."

Henry blanched, "Why the hell would he go after them alone?"

"Because I accidentally insulted him." Gus started at his hands. He felt like he betrayed his best friend.

Henry's face scrunched in confusion, "What?"

"I said," Gus gulped knowing the reactions wouldn't be pretty, "I said I wanted to meet with Coraline so I can find a cure to get my friend back."

"Judas Priest Guster! What the hell is wrong with you?" Carlton got to his feet, glaring at the salesman. With as upset as Shawn was when he felt his mother didn't accept him, he couldn't even fathom how Shawn must have felt after _that_ slip. "No wonder he went alone." He started to pace. If Shawn ran away, that would be bad... but if he were captured, it was so much worse. "Chief if I may... if Spencer doesn't get a regular dose of blood, things won't be pretty. I don't think in this case we can wait the full 48 hours."

Karen sighed knowing Carlton was right., "Alright then, we'll treat this like a missing person's case, even though it hasn't been 48 hours due to what we'll call a 'medical emergency'."

Everyone nodded.

The hormones and the stressful situation was really starting to get to Juliet and she started to cry, holding her stomach with her arms. "Why did he go alone!? We could have helped him."

"Don't blame yourself." Henry grabbed one of her hands and held it. "Shawn probably had it in his head that he was protecting us. It wouldn't be the first time." He absentmindedly fingered the two circular scars on his neck.

Carlton noticed the action but didn't comment on it. He turned to Karen. "The first thing we need to do is find his car. O'Hara told me he had it. It shouldn't be too hard, the damn thing is one of a kind. If we find it we might be able to figure out if he's close by."

"I'll get some black and whites on it right away, now understand the _only _reason I am letting any of you on this case is because there is no one else that knows of Mr. Spencer and Detective Lassiter's conditions. If that wasn't the case I wouldn't have any of you anywhere near this case. I am trusting you to remain professional. Understand?"

"Yes chief." Carlton nodded. Juliet followed suit.

Henry grumbled and paced the room. He didn't want to have to tell his wife about Shawn. She'd blame herself for her reaction and she had done nothing wrong. It was a lot to process and Shawn shouldn't have expected her to instantly be okay with things.

"We'll hit the streets and check out the second hand store. Maybe we can come up with what Spencer had figured out." Carlton motioned for Juliet to come with him. He cast one last glare at Gus and left.

Henry and Gus looked at Karen, then at each other. "Uh, did you want to search with me?" Gus asked the elder Spencer.

"We're not taking that thing you call a car. We'll take my truck. End of story." Henry got up and stormed out. Still pissed off at Shawn, even though at the same time he was worried as hell for him.

Gus got to his feet sluggishly. He'd had to think that something happened to Shawn because of him.

"Mr. Guster..."

Gus looked at Karen, wondering what she wanted.

"Don't be too hard on yourself. You are going through a lot too. I'm sure Shawn forgives you." She smiled sadly before grabbing her phone to make the calls to get the search party going.

Nodding his understanding, but still feeling like crap, Gus left the office, quietly closing the door behind him. "Shawn you better be okay." Gus huffed and followed Henry out to the parking lot to his truck.

Henry already had the engine going when Gus climbed in. "Do you have any idea where you are going?" Gus asked.

Henry shook his head. "No clue, but we have to do something. I'm not going to just sit around while my son could be out there in trouble."

"You know that's right." Gus agreed. "Let's go get him."

* * *

**END NOTES:**

**I missed putting a Carlton and Marlowe scene. I don't think I have done that since the last chapter of the first one.**

**The bad guys know Shawn's secret. He is a tough guy, but still a newbie vampire. I couldn't have him hold out too long. :)**


	7. From Bad to Worse

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: It took me forever to get this one right. I wrote almost five different versions before settling on this one. :) Enjoy**

* * *

**Chapter 7- From Bad to Worse**

Zack and his crew, minus Adam who was keeping an eye on Shawn, adjourned to a more private area where they were sure Shawn wouldn't be able to hear them. They hoped.

Carlos glanced up at Ben as he worked to stop the bleeding on his arm. It looked like it needed stitches, plus Ben's broken nose seemed like it needed to be looked at too. What concerned Carlos most though, was how excited Ben was. The guy was unpredictable and he often questioned why Zack kept him around, but the giddiness Ben was showing couldn't be anything good.

"Oh man. Just think! We have a vampire, a genuine vampire at our mercy. We could put this shit on YouTube! We'll be rich!"

Carlos wrinkled his nose and stepped back after securing the bandage. _Why isn't Zack shutting him up?_ "Damn it Ben! We don't even know what he is yet. Just because he has fangs doesn't mean he's a vampire, there _can't _be vampires. Someone would have slipped up, proven it. Honestly do you think these people could just exist, walking around and _no one _would notice? Zack help me out here!" He gestured at Ben.

Zack glanced at Carlos knowing he was right. It was impossible that no one noticed there were vampires. He'd read some Sherlock Holmes when he was younger and a quote came to mind. "Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable… must be the truth."

Sam stared disbelievingly, "We're in the middle of a crisis here, and you are quoting Spock from the new Star Trek movie?"

_Some people have no culture._ Zack rolled his eyes. "What I mean you God damn idiot, is that Carlos is right. It is impossible that no one knows that vampires exist, therefore people know… and since we aren't living in True Blood land where _everyone_ knows vampires are real, it means that whoever knows about them is keeping peoples' mouth shut."

Realization dawned on the rest of the group.

"So you're saying we'll get erased if we go public with this?" Ben asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. He still wasn't completely buying this particular conspiracy theory.

Zack nodded. "That's exactly what I'm saying. We won't get past the local media before the cover up happens." He started to pace around. "We have to deal with this ourselves, and if he gets away you can be sure as hell he'll kill us all for knowing. We can't let him go, ever."

The determination at his crew leader's admission had Carlos super nervous. They were dealing with things that were way over their heads. Sure, they were good thieves and made a TON of money, but he didn't sign up for this kind of thing. "So we just kill him then?"

Zack was beginning to get in one of his moods. He hated being in the dark about things. Before heists he would plan things out meticulously, leaving no room for screw ups. Even Ben knew not to mess with Zack's plans and was well behaved during the actual robberies. "We need more information on the situation." Zack concluded. "His card says he is a psychic detective. It could be some sort of cover for being whatever he is."

Everyone seemed to agree. They needed to know more about what Shawn actually was, vampire or not, and how he ended up finding them when they'd left no trace. "What if he won't talk?" Carlos asked.

Zack set his jaw and gave his three crew members a stoic look, "If we have to force answers out of him, so be it."

* * *

As soon as Carlton parked his car he jumped out and headed into the store. It wasn't just because he was freaking out about Shawn, because he actually was… but he was also freaking out about something else. The_ whole_ way to the crime scene, he'd felt-sad. His concern for Shawn notwithstanding, he wouldn't feel _that_ sad about it. Like completely distraught, "I don't know how I am going to live without Shawn" kind of sad.

So, knowing that if it wasn't his own feelings for his sire, it had to have been his partner's feelings. He'd smelt her emotions often, but this was the first time he'd ever physically _felt_ them. Probably because he hadn't been a vampire the last time she had been this upset around him. It freaked him out. Shawn had never mentioned that little fact, and if Shawn hadn't mentioned it, Carlton figured meant he didn't know either. _Is this how Shawn feels when he picks up my feelings? Is he getting anything right now?_

Getting an idea, while Juliet was still getting out of the car, Carlton dug a sharp nail in the back of his hand over and over, hoping Shawn might be able to feel it and get the message associated with it.

"Carlton? What's wrong?" Juliet sniffed, trying to regain her composure after breaking down at the station and again in the car. Her partner had looked more uncomfortable than usual at the display of emotion.

Not wanting to give her any false hope in case his plan didn't work he straightened and dropped his hands. "I'm fine O'Hara."

Juliet didn't have the energy to argue. She just wanted to find anything that could lead them to Shawn and hoped that Gus and Henry were having some luck trying to track him down.

They followed Gus' instructions and found the safe right away. Carlton asked Juliet to back up, closed his eyes, and sniffed. He could almost see the ocean appear in front of him. Whoever robbed this place lived damn close to it if they smelled this strongly.. "They are next to the ocean. I'm sure of it."

Juliet felt a flutter of hope. "That's something to go by at least, but how would Shawn know where they were just from that. It had to have been something else."

Carlton wasn't getting anything else. "Damn it Spencer. Why the hell do you pull this crap?" He cursed as his cell phone started going off. "Lassiter."

It was Buzz. _"Detective Lassiter we found the car. It's in a parking lot in Goleta near the University."_

"We'll be there in a few." He hung up the phone quickly and turned to an apprehensive Juliet. "They found his car near the university. Let's go."

"You think college kids are involved like in the DeVry case?" A couple years before Shawn had figured out that a couple college students were responsible for the theft of thousands of dollars.

Carlton shook his head. "Spencer is hard enough to figure out when he's _here._" He saw Juliet's lip start to quiver a bit. He had to hand it to his partner. She was holding it together well considering her circumstances. "Let's just go and see what we can find. Okay?"

Nodding sadly, Juliet followed her partner out of the shop. Not noticing that once again, Carlton was trying to send a message through the pain in his hand.

* * *

Shawn stayed silent after the crew left him alone with Adam. It wasn't just the fact that he was pissed at himself for the slip that would most definitely cost him, but more for the fact that he was always uncomfortable with awkward situations. Talking to a someone about the weather or who won the last football game right after you sprout fangs and bite someone is a lot more awkward than just shutting up.

The position he was in was pretty painful and his muscles screamed each time he moved. Not to mention that he had an itch on the end of his nose, and his hand had started to throb a bit. _Wait a minute. _Shawn's brow furrowed. The throbbing was pretty localized and wasn't rhythmic, like a heartbeat would be. _Weird._ A few minutes, he felt it again. He concentrated on it more and realized it was Morse code. There was only one person that could be doing that. Carlton. The message started repeating and Shawn fought the urge to smile, he was staying, _We'll find you._ Over and over again.

He felt like an idiot. He'd gotten into the habit of shutting off their connection, per Carlton's request. Concentrating, he opened it. A flood of emotions hit him hard. _Aw, he's worried about me._ Mostly though he could feel anger. _At least they know I'm missing._ It made him feel a little better about his situation, though he felt horrible about how much he was probably making people worry, at least Jules and Carlton. He wasn't so sure about his parents and Gus anymore. For all he knew his dad thought he'd run off again, but knowing _somebody_ cared gave him a second wind and he almost believed that they would find him.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later the four other men walked back into the warehouse. Shawn didn't like the looks on their faces and his worry was justified when Zack immediately pulled a gun and pointed it at his head. _Oh crap._

Zack licked his lips, trying to hide his nervousness, showing weakness in front of his crew was the worst thing he could do, even if one was having a belief system crisis. _Vampires exist._ Kept repeating through his head over and over, it was starting to drive him nuts, because they _shouldn't_ exist. He steadied his hand, "Now I have some questions, and you're going to answer them."

Shawn narrowed his eyes. He ever did well with threats. "That's a bit presumptuous. What if I don't want to answer the questions? Maybe I'd like to ask you guys some questions of my own, it's only fair after the horrible hospitality I've had to…"

The gun lowered and went off. Shawn screamed and squeezed his eyes shut as pain seared through his leg. He could feel it start to heal almost instantly but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. "You son of a bitch…"

The men watched through the hole in Shawn's jeans as the wound bled a little and closed within a few seconds. "Oh my God." Zack whispered too quietly for his crew to hear, but Shawn heard it perfectly. He didn't want to believe it, but the proof was now right in front of him. "How did you find us?"

"Suck it Jack." Shawn growled and yelled again as another bullet ripped through his torso this time.

The others looked on in stunned silence as Shawn once again healed.

"How did you find us?!" Zack screamed, losing his cool and shooting three more times until the gun clicked empty.

Shawn groaned and panted as the pain dulled and the wounds healed. He coughed out some blood and glared at the group. "Is that all you've got? I can do this all day." Shawn knew he really couldn't, but bluffing was all he had right now. The fear in the room was almost palpable and he swore he could almost feel it. Zack had turned away and was running a hand through his hair. He appeared to be trying to calm down.

Looking at his watch, Zack saw it was almost 2pm. He was tired as hell, as was everyone else, no one got much sleep last night and they hadn't eaten all day. It was turning into an explosive situation and he knew food and rest would go a long way. They also had a few people to meet and fence their more expensive loot to, so he decided to get out of there for a bit. "Sam, watch him. We got stuff to do but we'll bring you back some food."

"What? Me? Why?" Sam complained.

"Because Adam already had to watch him all night. We need to take turns, and because I _said so_."

"I'll stay, just in case Sam decides to pussy out." Ben offered being uncharacteristically generous.

Carlos stepped forward to disagree but Zack stopped him. He didn't have the time to argue with Ben and he had to believe he could trust his crew or nothing would work. That didn't mean he couldn't threaten him a bit though. "You pull _anything_ while we're gone and you're out. Got it? This isn't some kind of game. He's dangerous."

Ben gave him a charming smile, "Cross my heart and hope to die..."

Shawn's eyes widened. _That didn't sound good._ Zack didn't catch it though and headed off with Carlos and Adam.

Ben sat down and pulled out a knife, cleaning his nails. Sam however was freaking out, not meeting Shawn's withering gaze. "Man this is insane. What if he tries to hypnotize us? Can they do that?"

"If he's psychic he could probably get into your mind without having to look at you. Let me know if you start to feel a tingle on the back of your neck." Ben knew as soon as he said it Sam would feel that tingle, just because he mentioned it.

"OH my God, he's trying to break into my mind isn't he?"

Shawn knew what Ben was doing, freaking out Sam would leave them alone together, which wasn't a good thing. Ben had already been looking at him like he was a frog to be dissected. "That's crazy I can't control your mind." Some admission of truth was worth not being left alone with the insane person.

Unfortunately Sam took the statement as an admission, "Ben! He's trying to get into my head! I have to get out of here. Watch him okay?" Sam got out of the room as fast as possible.

"No! Get back here dammit!" Shawn yelled after Sam's retreating form. His eyes settled on Ben, who now had a smug smile on his face. He closed his eyes, knowing this whole situation was about to become very painful. "So um, know any games? How about we play I Spy? I am super good at that one." He tried to distract him a bit, maybe if he annoyed him enough he'd go away too.

"What kind of vampire _are_ you?" Ben stopped playing with the knife and stepped closer to him, his arm was wrapped up, but Shawn could still smell the blood soaking the bandage. He licked his lips again, the taste was still there. He hadn't eaten since yesterday and being forced to heal from multiple gunshots was taking it's toll. Shawn held back a groan, and forced his gaze away from the wound to Ben's dead eyes.

"What? I'm not living up to a serial killer's expectations? I'm hurt, really."

Ben smirked at Shawn. "You know, since we have all this time together, I might as well check some stuff out. I hope you don't mind."

"Are we back to the question thing? I thought we already covered this." Shawn tried to turn his head away as Ben got even closer, the sociopath shook his head.

"I'm not the questioning kind of guy." Suddenly Ben's hand shot out and left a long gash on Shawn's shoulder. Shawn growled in pain. "I'm more of a hypothesis kind of guy. You see, I have hundreds of years of vampire myths to test out on you... and so little time."

* * *

Buzz watched as Henry, Gus, Juliet and Carlton showed up at the college campus at almost the same time, having gotten the call. He was looking sharp as ever in his dress shirt and jacket. Buzz had never really been a suit and tie kinda guy and the chief let him go a bit more casual. She had ended up promoting him to detective to replace Dobson who had been killed in the SPBD explosion. He'd taken to the position well, having gotten his fair share of collars already. Carlton had even stopped asking him for coffee, much to Buzz's relief and he was starting to really feel like part of the group.

"Guys, over here!" He waved them over. A few uniform officers were around, collecting evidence.

The group approached and studied the car. "Did they find anything Buzz?" Gus asked.

Buzz shook his head sadly, "No, it looks like he left the car here himself. No sign of a struggle and the alarm was still engaged."

Henry nodded, knowing Shawn wouldn't have parked near a place he was casing out. He'd taught him that. "That means he could be anywhere in this area." The college campus was huge, it was almost a square mile of buildings and the car parked here didn't necessarily mean that Shawn had stayed here.

Carlton, shading his eyes, started barking orders. "Okay, we'll use this as a start point. We'll canvas the area and see if anyone saw him." The officers in the vicinity nodded and got to work

Henry and Gus walked up to Juliet, who was looking at the car, lost in thought. Henry didn't know if he should be asking this, unsure of how mad at him she was, but he didn't want Juliet to be alone if they didn't find Shawn before nightfall. She needed her rest and the stress wasn't good for her. "Did you want to stay with me for tonight? I have an extra room and if we hear anything you'll be right there."

Juliet was still upset about how Henry had treated Shawn the day before, but she needed some comfort now and knew it. Plus, it would give her some time to talk to Madeline about Shawn. "Yeah, yeah okay."

"Good. I'll let you know if I find anything." Henry walked away and Gus gave Juliet a comforting hug before heading off, joining Henry in questioning people in the area.

Juliet pulled out her own picture of Shawn and proceeded to ask everyone she saw if they'd seen Shawn. Someone had to have seen something, it was just a matter of time before they found them. Unfortunately it was most likely time Shawn didn't have.

* * *

Things were too quiet when Zack, Carlos and Adam returned around 6pm. Sam was usually a pretty talkative person and the lack of any kind of chatting was a bit unnerving. Zack held out a hand and had the other two stay behind him. He saw that Shawn was still in the chair, but the chair had been displaced from it's original position. Shawn was also slumped over, unmoving. "That son of a bitch!" Zack exclaimed. He knew he shouldn't have trusted Ben to not do something stupid to their captive while they were gone.

As they got closer though, they found out that wasn't the case. Ben lay sprawled out just below Shawn's chair. Blood had pooled around him and he was pale and still. The three men stood there in shock. Somehow it seemed that Shawn had gotten a hold of Ben again and killed him, that didn't explain why he wasn't moving either though. Nothing seemed to make sense.

Zack looked around. Their mousiest member was nowhere to be found, and it concerned him that he wouldn't call if something like this happened. "Find Sam." Zack ordered turning to Adam.

Adam didn't argue, he was more than happy to get out of there.

Carlos pushed past Zack and addressed Ben's condition as Zack checked out Shawn.

Shawn was slumped forward, he was breathing shallowly but didn't look well. He was sweating and shaking slightly. Blood marred almost every inch of any exposed skin. He still had his shirt on, but it too was also slashed. It looked like Ben had tried to give him death by a thousand cuts. Zack almost didn't blame him for taking out Ben for that. His eyes narrowed and he noticed a larger pool of blood near the back of the chair. He bent over to examine it.

Meanwhile Carlos put his fingers to Ben's pulse point and found nothing. He was dead. "Zack, he's gone." He saw a lot of blood around Ben, but couldn't see any obvious open wounds.

Zack hadn't heard Carlos, he was too focused on what he found behind the chair. Shawn's hands had been tied behind him, both wrists tied together crisscrossed. That isn't what interested him, Zack was the one who tied him up in the first place. No, it was the large slash on one of them is what concerned him, it hadn't quite closed and didn't look like it was healing like the gunshots did. "What the hell?"

_"Hhmmmm..."_ They heard Shawn moan. Zack jumped back and returned to stand in front of Shawn.

He put his hand's on the vampire's shoulders and shouted at him, "What happened? What did he do?"

Shawn's eyes slowly and weakly rose to meet his. They were a disturbingly bright yellow where they should have been white, and white, where they should have been green. They could barely hear his answer but his tone chilled them to the bone. _"Run."_

"What the hell is this Zack?" Carlos backed up. Starting to get really scared. Their question was answered when Ben's hand shot out and grabbed Carlos around the ankle. His eyes opening and revealing silvery white vampiric irises.

* * *

**END NOTES: Now the fun begins!**


	8. Monster Blood

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a very busy chapter. A lot goes on kind of at the same time. I hope I translated all the events well. The shit has hit the fan in a big way this chapter and I hope it pleases those who have waited patiently for it :)**

* * *

**Chapter 8- Monster Blood**

**Four hours earlier:**

**_"_**_You see, I have hundreds of years of vampire myths to test out on you... and so little time."_

The knife sliced through Shawn's skin like butter. It trailed almost all the way down his collar bone. Shawn's eyes changed to white in with a gasp of pain, he struggled to free his hands, but the rigging held tight.

"That is so cool." Ben gushed gleefully watching Shawn's pallor and eyes change color. "Can you control that?"

Shawn leered at him, panting from exhaustion and pain. "Come closer and I'll show you just how much I can control it."_ Dammit I survived over a hundred criminals I'm not getting beat by some amoral ass-hat!_

Ben shrugged. From past experience he wasn't really expecting any truthful answers out of the vampire. He saw Shawn struggle to get his hands free but doubted the he would be able to escape. Zack was very good at knots. _Speaking of knots…_

Deciding that since Shawn wasn't going to be all that forthcoming with information, he'd just quit asking questions and stop the noise altogether. He grabbed one of the silk ties from the loot pile and, being careful to avoid Shawn's sharp teeth, tied it around his mouth. Shawn struggled but there was only so much you can do when the only thing you can move is your head.

"There, now I can work." It wasn't any quieter with Shawn yelling through the gag but at least he couldn't understand the snarky comments anymore. Glancing up, at the bright windows Ben got another idea. He grabbed Shawn's chair and started dragging it to a spot on the floor.

Shawn realized what Ben was doing. He shook his head and started shouting even louder through the gag. He struggled and bucked wildly, trying to rock the chair and impede Ben's progress. The chair almost tipped but Ben shouldered it back upright and before long Shawn was sitting in a square of sun shining through one of the windows. The sun wasn't immediately deadly to vampires at first, just an annoying glare but it quickly caused them to overheat.

Ben was a bit disappointed at the lack of reaction to the sun. He'd expected at least some flames, but Shawn seemed reluctant to be in it, so he figured there must be something to that. Sure enough Shawn started trying to cover his eyes and broke out in a sweat while moaning through the gag. He decided to leave him in the sun a while, and kept moving him back into it as the hours passed and torture continued. He was glad for the gag because they were in a pretty populated storage yard, and people would have heard the screaming.

* * *

_They'll find me. It's only been a day. I've had worse…_ Shawn tried to keep his mind occupied as Ben poked, prodded and cut. So far he hadn't thought about silver, but it was only a matter of time. The cuts had started to heal slower anyway, and Shawn could barely lift his head anymore. His mind was also going out the window. Thinking coherently was becoming harder and harder. The sun had really done a number on him and he was sure his eyes had turned yellow by now. He'd had no sleep, no blood, and no hope for the last twenty four hours.

Shawn thought about Gus, Juliet, and his child. He'd never know if it was a boy or a girl. He'd never get to see the look on Gus' face when he apologized for insulting him… and never get the chance to give him a hard time about it for years to come. So much he wanted to do and couldn't. He growled low as he glanced up and noticed the smirk on the man in front of him. _When I get out of this… he's toast, and not the delicious kind.._

"Man, what a baby." Ben smacked Shawn in the head. The vampire hadn't been reacting all that much the last half hour and he was already getting bored. "I bet if I was a vampire I wouldn't be such a wuss." Ben chuckled then abruptly stopped and considered what he'd just said. He didn't think any of the other guys had even thought about it yet. What would it be like to be a vampire? Quick healing, strength and apparently they could go out in the sun, for a bit.

There were so many different ways the movies showed vampires being made. He'd already been bitten, but then there was the whole blood thing. He had to know. Walking behind Shawn he removed the gag so Shawn could answer him. "How do you become a vampire?"

Life seemed to come back into Shawn's defeated eyes at the question. "Like I'd tell you." He answered in a weak voice. He snorted, "You have no clue what you're dealing with Jack."

"Okay, how about this." Ben walked over to a table and picked up Shawn's deactivated phone and his wallet. He pulled out the Juliet's picture and waved it in front of Shawn's face. "You tell me how to become a vampire, and I won't find her and do the same to her that I've done to you."

Ben's tone was so straight forward and neutral that he could have been reading off a grocery list, let alone threatening to kill people. Shawn knew he'd do it. Without hesitation he'd do it. But, if he told Ben how to become a vampire he'd be unleashing a true monster on the unsuspecting citizens of Santa Barbara. Juliet was a cop. She'd never forgive him for putting innocent lives in danger to spare hers. Plus, he would _love_ to see Ben get through Carlton, who was getting angrier by the hour. He felt it.

Shawn took a breath and met Ben's eyes. "Go to hell. I'm sure it's lovely this time of year."

It wasn't the response Ben was expecting, he punched Shawn in the face and made a frustrated noise. "Fine! We'll see who has the last laugh." He grabbed a cup and walked behind Shawn.

"What are you doing?!" Shawn tried to crane his neck around.

"Improvising…" Ben stated and Shawn felt the knife slice his wrist.

* * *

Shawn hadn't realized that he'd passed out, and had no idea how long it had been The last thing he remembered was Ben syphoning his blood into a cup. Not wanting to open his eyes, he listened. No heartbeats besides his own. Ben must have gotten sick of torturing him. _Thank God…_ Shawn thought but then he started hearing voices approaching. He chanced opening his eyes and saw it was still light out. Also, Ben was sprawled out on the ground right in front of him, with slit wrists.

_"That son of a bitch!"_ A voice yelled and came closer. The others were back. He didn't know whether that was a good or bad thing.

Shawn had no illusions anymore about his situation and knew he was close to death. Everything in him screamed for blood but he was too weak to move. Ben had practically drained him. Everything hurt and he was so very hungry.

As the two men approached, another heart beat joined theirs and it was growing steadily stronger. _No…_ Shawn started to notice a tickle in the back of his mind. It matched the one that was already there and connected to Carlton. Whatever Ben did it worked, and the men returning would have no idea how much danger they were in.

Carlos had gone to see to Ben and Shawn could tell that Zack was checking him out. _"Hhmmmm..."_ Shawn tried to speak but all that came out was a long groan.

Ben came around his front and asked him a question. Shawn's mind couldn't register the words. He just knew they had to get out, kidnappers or not, they didn't deserve what was coming. He struggled to get the word out and hoped they would listen. "Run…" Shawn's eyes fell closed again and he slumped forward too weak to stay awake any longer. Too tired to fight anymore.

* * *

After an exhausting search of the area around Shawn's car, Gus and Henry dragged Juliet back to Henry's house. She'd wanted to keep searching but they could tell she was getting tired. Running herself ragged at five months pregnant was not a good idea.

As appreciative as she was, it was getting frustrating for Juliet having to tell the men that she was okay every five minutes and deal with the fact that Henry still thought that Shawn had run off again.

"Guys, I'm fine." She said sadly as they arrived at the house. "Maybe you're right. I just need to rest." The whole day had been stressful and she had cried herself out within the first couple hours. Now she just felt numb and tired.

Maddie was waiting for them when they arrived. She enveloped Juliet in a big hug as she came to the door. There were tears in her eyes and Juliet saw how much she really did care about her son. "Oh sweetie I am so sorry." Maddie sobbed, keeping Juliet in a tight embrace. "I should have talked to him. This is all my fault." Apparently Maddie thought Shawn had left again too.

Juliet hugged her tightly back. "It's okay. He'll be fine." She repeated the words that everyone had been telling her all day, even if she had a hard time believing them. She knew it was dangerous for Shawn if he got captured as she believed he had. If people found out what he was, or if he became too hungry, it would be disastrous. She had to find him.

Henry and Gus hadn't gotten out of the car yet. Gus still had to get the Blueberry from the SBPD parking lot and needed Henry to drive him. "I'll be back in about a half hour." Henry called out to the women. He saw them nod and pulled back out of the driveway. The stress had taken its toll on Henry and Gus as well, both were at the end of their ropes. Henry was frustrated and Gus was feeling guilty.

Gus glanced at Henry and tried his luck, "Henry, we have to call Mick. He might be able to help..."

"I'm not calling Mick until we're sure. End of story. Tomorrow Shawn might come sauntering back wondering why we were all so worried. He's probably holed up right now feeling sorry for himself." Henry desperately needed to believe that, because the alternative was more than he could bear. Calling Mick was his last resort, not because they could use the help, but because it meant that someone had really taken his son. He didn't want to believe that. Not at all.

"You can live in denial all you want, but I'm calling Mick!" Gus started to take out his phone and Henry knocked it out of his hand.

"Just because you're feeling guilty doesn't mean you have to jump to conclusions Guster!" Henry shouted and gripped the wheel so hard his knuckles turned white.

Gus started open mouthed at Henry, "What is wrong with you? Are you so dense you're letting your pride stop you from contacting someone who can probably find Shawn in an hour?"

"You don't know what you're talking about." Henry grumbled.

Gus was sick of the charade, the longer they waited the more dangerous it became for Shawn and everyone around him. "Yes I do! I know Shawn well enough to know where he gets his temper. You're blaming yourself but you're avoiding the truth because you don't want it to be true. If he got caught or if he ran off it doesn't matter! He's your son and my best friend and we owe it to him to find him!"

Henry hung his head. Gus was right. He was acting just like Shawn, and with how much he'd scolded his son for the same thing... being too stubborn to see the big picture. "Okay Gus, call him." He relented.

Gus grabbed his phone and hit Mick's speed dial. It was answered on the second ring.

_"St. John"_

Gus glanced nervously at Henry, "Mick, it's Burton Guster- Shawn's friend. We have a problem... Shawn's missing."

* * *

"Zack!" Carlos screamed as Ben's eyes opened and his hand gripped his leg. "Get him off!" Zack sprang into action, ripping Carlos' leg out of the vampire's grip.

"LET GO!"

Ben released Carlos' ankle and they tumbled backwards as he sat up. He looked at his wrists, then quickly unwrapped his injured arm. All of them were healed. His broken nose didn't even hurt anymore. It was like he was a new man. Every sight, sound, and smell was overwhelming. "Wow..." He breathed out and stood up. Ben opened his mouth and felt his fangs. He laughed. "I can't believe it worked!" He looked over at his gang mates. They were scooting away from him in fear.

"Ben. What the hell did you do?" Zack looked back and forth from Ben to Shawn. _No wonder the dude is in such rough shape._

"You can't believe how awesome this feels Zack... how-" He couldn't find the words to describe it. "-vampiric."

Carlos wasn't having it. It was bad enough knowing that vampires existed, but now that the craziest person he knew was one, it didn't take a genius to figure out how bad that was. "Zack, we need to go." He hissed through clenched teeth and pulled on his friend's arm.

Ben's eyes settled on Carlos and narrowed. He sniffed and a smell he'd never experienced was wafting around the area. He moved closer to the two men. "What's that smell?"

Zack held out a hand. "Back off Ben. We don't know what that shit has done to you. We need to talk to him." Zack pointed at Shawn.

Ben glared. _I'm a fricken GOD now and they still want to talk to him._ "You know what. I think we've gotten all we need out of the guy. Don't you think?" Zack moved over to where he'd set the stake.

"No! What are you doing!?" Carlos jumped forward and tried to stop him. Shawn was the only one who could tell them what the hell was going on, and maybe take out Ben if need be. Carlos grabbed Ben's arm and tried prying the stake out of it.

"Get off!" Ben yelled and swung his arm back, connecting with Carlos' midsection and sent him flying back twenty feet into a pile of loot. Clothes and various other items fell down around him.

Zack ran over to make sure Carlos was okay. _Where the hell is Adam?_ Carlos wasn't seriously hurt, only dazed, and they really needed to get out of there. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Ben raise the stake and plunge it straight into Shawn. "Oh Shit! Get up man!" He grabbed Carlos under the arms and pulled him towards the exit.

Shawn's eyes popped open for a moment in surprise and he went stark still, slumping over in the chair. "Wow, that actually works."

Ben knew he'd have to remember that. He turned towards the door where Ben and Carlos had ran. He could still hear their footfalls as they fled. He paused, he wasn't usually very introspective but the situation seemed to call for it. They were really the only family he had, not that it mattered to him much. He only tolerated them for the fact that there was safety in numbers. Well, there was still safety in numbers, and he figured they just needed to realize how much more they could do if they were like him. Theft was just the start, as a group of vampires... they'd be unstoppable.

Grinning widely he followed his senses and tore off after the fleeing humans. They'd see it his way, when they were more like him. _Besides, _He thought smugly, _I'm hungry..._

* * *

Mick St. John, had his arm around his girlfriend Beth and was watching a pretty romantic movie when his phone rang.. He grabbed it quickly when he saw who it was. Shawn's friend Gus. He only ever called if it was an emergency, unlike Shawn's father who called whenever he needed advice on issues that came up with his son. He was happy to oblige the elder Spencer and found it touching how much he seemed to care about Shawn. "Sorry, give me a minute." He apologized to Beth before walking out of the room for some privacy.

"St. John." He answered.

_"Mick, it's Burton Guster- Shawn's friend."_ He said as if Mick didn't know who he was. _"We have a problem... Shawn's missing."_

Mick's brow wrinkled in worry. "What do you mean missing? How long?"

Despite his try for privacy, Beth peeked her head around the corner and mouthed. "Shawn's missing?" Mick held up a hand.

_ "About twenty-four hours. He was investigating a bunch of thieves. He went alone and we haven't heard from him since. We found his car this morning but we weren't able to find anyone that saw which way he went."_

"Great." Mick ran a hand through his hair. "What about Lassiter, has he been able to sniff him out?"

_ "No. He's been acting crazy all day. Even for him."_

Mick understood. Sires and fledglings tended to have a symbiotic relationship. Fledglings needed sires to survive and sires often needed the eternal companionship that their fledglings provided. Not to mention it was instinct to protect each other. Sometimes that relationship goes sour though, and you get the explosion that happened between him and his ex-wife Coraline. It didn't happen often, but when it did, it was bad.

"Do you need me to come help?" His eyes rose sadly to Beth, knowing she'd understand but feeling guilty nonetheless.

_ "I think so, Juliet is worried, and I don't think he would just leave her, especially now. Something had to have happened."_

His phone beeped at him. Another call was coming through. "Hold on one second." He told Gus and pressed the button to switch calls. "St. John."

_"St. John, it's Lassiter. Something happened... and I need your help."_

* * *

**Ten Minutes Earlier:**

Carlton fumed as he sat his desk. He'd gone home, on the chief's orders but he'd brought some of his more mundane paperwork home with him, needing a break from the search for Shawn. Carlton slammed his fist down hard on the desk, if it hadn't been solid oak he swore it would have broken the thing in two.

He'd sniffed around for hours after sending an exhausted Juliet home with Henry and Gus. He still came up with nothing. He wasn't the best tracker in the world, a lot of the different smells he was still learning, and picking out one from the hundreds of people on the campus was neigh impossible. He wondered how blood hounds did it so well.

He'd tried to send Shawn a few more messages, but gave that up, not really thinking anything was getting through anyway. Looking at the clock he saw it was about 6pm. "Damn it." He cursed and put his head down. He needed blood. He'd been in the sun almost all day and he was feeling like crap warmed over.

Heading to the fridge he grabbed a bag and started to tear it open when he felt what amounted to a thousand bolts of electricity shooting through his body. "Ahhh!" He dropped the bag of blood, splattering it all over his linoleum and his socks. He lurched forward and grabbed the counter to steady himself. It hadn't exactly been painful, but it was the weirdest thing he'd ever felt, and it was powerful. The feeling passed quickly but he was left panting and clutching the counter top.

"What in the name of sweet justice was that?!" He yelled to his empty condo. Banging on the wall signaled someone in the next apartment had heard him and wasn't appreciative of the noise. At that moment he didn't care. "SHUT IT!" He hollered and the banging stopped.

Ignoring the spilled blood he pulled out his cell phone and called the one person he knew would know what happened. It had something to do with his connection to Shawn, that he was sure of, but what did it mean? Is he dead? Did that mean he died? Panic set in, but he didn't want to call Henry or Juliet. It would just make them worry more. There was really only one other person to ask.

It took him a few times to dial the number with his shaking hands. He knew he should have taken Shawn's advice and just put the damn number on speed dial.

A few rings later Mick answered, _"St. John."_

"St. John, it's Lassiter. Something happened... and I need your help." Asking for help was always hard for him to admit, but with what just happened, he was willing to try.

"Could you hold on a second, I have Gus on the other line."

"Guster?" Apparently the pharmaceutical salesman caved and called for help as well.

_ "Yeah, one second."_ The two minutes Mick made him wait seemed like an eternity. Carlton was a bit testy by the time he came back on the line. _"Okay, what happened?"_

"I think something happened to Spencer. I felt a- well it was like a jolt. Straight through my body." Carlton hoped he wasn't going crazy. Every day as a vampire was like spinning a wheel of weird. He constantly wondered what kind of twisted crap was going to happen to him next... mostly because of Shawn.

_ "I have no idea what could cause that."_ Carlton heard him sigh, _"Gus asked for my help. I'll be at Henry's in a couple hours, call me if anything else happens."_

"You'll be the first to know." Carlton hung up and rubbed his hands over his face. It was going to be another long night.

* * *

Adam ended up finding Sam at a bar close to the storage yard. He'd most likely been there for a while and he was stone drunk. Adam lifted him under the arms and paid for his drinks. The smaller man had mentioned something about people getting in his head, but he was hard to understand and it had taken more than a little muscle to practically carry him back. He hoped that Zack and Carlos had the situation under control.

It wasn't like Adam really liked Ben all that much, but he'd been a part of the group and he'd known him for years. _At least I won't have to punch him in the face anymore._ He always felt bad, but he knew that Zack was right about it being the only way to keep Ben from murdering half the state, including them.

Sam found his legs once they got back to their building and went in first. Adam tried to stop him, Sam had always had a weak stomach and he hadn't gotten the chance to tell him about Ben yet. Not that he'd remember with how drunk he was.

"Don't Sam..." Adam started but paused as he found the ground in front of Shawn empty, and Zack and Carlos were nowhere to be found.

"Whoa!" Sam drunkenly slurred staggering forward. He'd noticed the piece of wood sticking out of Shawn's chest.

Adam came closer and gaped. The only conclusion he could come to was Zack or Carlos killed Shawn for what he did to Ben and were currently getting rid of Ben's body. He made the sign of the cross over Shawn and turned his back. He'd had enough gore for one day.

Sam however, didn't move. He pushed Shawn's body with a fist. "Not going to read my mind anytime soon eh?" He chuckled and grabbed the stake, pulling it out with as much effort as he could muster. He turned to Adam and waved the stake, "Hey. Hey we should... keep this for a souvenir."

Curling his lip in disgust Adam was about to yell at him for messing around with a dead body when he froze in terror. Shawn's head was slowly rising, his eyes blazing silvery white. Adam had gotten to see Shawn vamped out before, but there always seemed to be a spark of something there. It was gone now. What was left in it's place would put Ben's thousand-yard psycho stare to shame. It was the scariest thing Adam had seen in his entire life.

Sam didn't notice and kept making smart-aleck comments. "We should have taken some pictures when he was alive, kept um as proof... ya know?"

A loud snapping and popping sound made Adam jump and Sam spin drunkenly around. Shawn had ripped his hand out of his bindings, dislocating it and breaking more than one finger in the process. Shawn, who seemed completely oblivious that he'd almost just torn his hand off, roared and grabbed the front of Sam's shirt, pulling him down towards his sharp teeth.

Sam shrieked loudly, but it was cut off as Shawn bit down hard on his jugular. Arterial spray splashed his face and splattered the area before Shawn could swallow the first gulp.

"NO!" Adam yelled and pounced on Sam, trying to rip him out of Shawn's steely grasp. It was no use, Shawn was latched onto him too tight and Adam's attempt at tearing Sam away had only made the wound worse.

Shawn growled and held on tighter, like a predator guarding his kill. Sam went limp and Adam backed up quickly, not wanting to get grabbed himself. A couple seconds later Shawn dropped Sam to the floor with a sickening thud.

All the cuts Ben had left healed as well as his dislocated arm and wrist with another sickening series of pops. His eyes, however, stayed glaring and dangerous... locked right on his next victim. Right on Adam.

* * *

**END NOTES: Oh yeah. He broke. I've been waiting to get to his chapter for a while. I have always wanted to do a truly feral Shawn. I've touched on it before but this is the big one. **

**I know it's only been a day in the story, and it may seem like Shawn went crazy really fast, but I really want to get across just how hard and how much willpower it takes for a vampire from Moonlight to stay sane. They can still be themselves yes, but they can lose it on a dime... let alone getting almost Buffalo Billed by a crazy person.**

**More fun to come! **


	9. A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Lose

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

**Another really involved chapter and probably the goriest I've ever wrote in this series so you have been warned. :)  
**

**I've been wondering if everyone likes the lengths I make them or if too much seems to happen all at once. I tend to go about 4000 words a chapter. Let me know what you think :)**

* * *

**Chapter 9- A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Lose**

**"Insanity destroys reason, but not wit." ****_— Nathaniel Emmons_**

Shawn watched as Adam stood and stared, frozen in shock. Probably thinking now that he should have let Shawn go when he had the chance. "Oh God, no…Sam."

Shawn's tongue tingled with the aftertaste of blood and more dripped slowly down from his face. He didn't actually get to feed much from Sam, having been too messy with the wound. The man had bled more on himself, Shawn, and the floor than the vampire had been able to consume. He'd only bitten someone once before, months ago, and it was only on the wrist so Shawn had no idea that neck wounds bled out so quickly and had been unprepared for sheer volume of it.

Shawn gaze bored into Adam, and he growled treacherously, but suddenly hissed in pain and clutched his chest with his free hand. He rode out the intense stabbing pain as blood replenished his dying system. Ben had practically drained Shawn dry and he was moments from death when the unsuspecting Sam had come within his grasp. By then, it had been about survival. No thinking, no remorse, just pure _instinct_.

The pain shooting through his body brought Shawn back to reality for a split second and he thought, _What have I done? I just killed a man!_ His emotions skyrocketed and he roared loud in both pain and anguish.

Adam brought his hands over his ears as the loud screechy roar echoed in the building.

The spreading pain quickly subsided and Shawn's screams stopped. His vision cleared and soon he was able to breathe easier, but his breaths still came in short panicked gasps. He was losing himself, and he knew it. The trauma and the bloodlust was consuming him and already threatening to turn him into an emotionless, instinctual, killing machine. Like Ben. _Think of Julies, the baby… anything! Focus!_

He couldn't focus though, too much pain, _too_ much hunger.

Movement caught his attention and his head snapped up. Adam had backed up farther from him and was eyeing him warily. He steadied himself and fingering his cross asked in a shaky voice. "Where are the others? What did you do to them?"

_Now he grows a conscience._ Shawn's lip curled. "Oh really? You stand there, clutching your little relic and act like you're some kind of good guy because you care about your friends? Huh Jack?" Shawn had cased out each and every one of these guys the minute he woke up from his head wound, he was done being nice. "The truth is, you are nothing but a scared little _boy_, who has to have other people around him to make him feel important!" Shawn grinned at Adam's crestfallen look. He'd hit the mark. Dead on.

"Lemme guess, big kid all through high school, always teased until you really filled out. Then like magic... everyone wants to be your friend. Then they started asking you to do their dirty work. Beat up this guy, intimidate that guy. They didn't like you, they used you, idiot. And these schmucks," Shawn nodded at the body. "You think these guys are any different? Tell me, how many times have you had to shelve your values when Zack tells you to jump?"

"How the hell do you know that?!" Adam snapped.

"Something wrong?" The venomous words kept coming out before Shawn could stop them. He'd always had a hard time controlling his mouth, especially when he was pissed off, let alone off his rocker. "You gonna cry big guy? Need a tissue perhaps? I suggest Puffs. They have ones with lotion now. No more chapped noses."

"Zack was right," Adam gaped. "You really are nothing but a monster."

Shawn blanched at Adam's words. They'd done this to him. They decided to hold him prisoner, threaten his family, and they were now reaping the consequences. _They deserve what they get…_ "Look in the mirror, you'll see who the real monster is..." Shawn grinned madly and sniffed, taking in the musk of fear. "Speaking of monsters, it's not me you have to worry about anymore. You guys had your chance to stop this train…and ya missed it. Too late to get off now." His smile turned into to manic giggles.

Now that he wasn't in agonizing pain, Shawn clearly felt the second link in his mind that connected him to Ben. It felt like an intrusion, and that's exactly what it was. He'd been drained and forced to turn someone. Shawn felt violated and despised Ben even more now, if such a thing were even possible.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Adam was confused and freaked out by Shawn's laughter. "What train? Who do I need to worry about?"

The back door abruptly slammed open causing the tightly coiled Adam jump back and fall over some of the loot that had been knocked down earlier. He cursed and tried to stand up.

Shawn, however, didn't react at all. He already knew who it was, and who was with him.

* * *

Juliet hated to wait around. She was never the "Woman in Distress" type. She was always the kind of person who felt completely useless if she wasn't out there trying to get results. Maddie was being as supportive as she could, considering the circumstances of the last couple days, but it gave Juliet no comfort to know that she couldn't help.

It wasn't the fact that she wanted to rush into danger. She'd had enough of that for a lifetime crammed into the three months since Shawn and Carlton had been turned. She'd been held hostage by crazed vampires twice, and had almost lost Shawn forever. She just wanted to be there for him, as he had been there for her.

Henry and Gus had called a few minutes earlier to let them know that they had called in Mick. She'd asked if they were calling in Team Bartowski which consisted of Shawn's blood brother Morgan and his friends in their company Carmichael Industries, but they'd said they would wait until Mick checked it out before they called in the big guns. She'd gone along with their decision but part of her wanted to pull out all the stops to get her man back.

"Juliet, sweetie are you okay?" Maddie saw how quiet her son's fiancé had gone.

Looking up, Juliet managed a sad smile. "Just tired." She laid her hand on her stomach and waited for a kick, trying not to think of how she'd raise the baby alone.

Maddie rose from the chair and sat down beside Juliet on the couch, grabbing her hand. "I'm sorry."

Juliet looked at her confused, "What?"

Taking a deep breath, Maddie explained, "I'm sorry for the way I treated Shawn. I'd take it all back if I could." She dropped Juliet's hand and wiped away tears. "I was just afraid. Afraid of what it meant for Shawn to be… what he is."

Any lingering anger she had towards Maddie melted away at those words. She understood completely. She was afraid as well when she found out, but Shawn was around to win her back. Hopefully soon, he'll be around to win his mom back. "I'm sure he knows. You were both just upset."

They passed the next half hour talking of better times and waiting for Henry and Gus to arrive. What they hadn't expected was Carlton to come stumbling into the house.

* * *

The detective didn't even bother knocking, not after what he'd just been through. He almost made it to the house when the electric sensation struck again, not once, but twice in rapid succession. He'd barely made it to the side of the road without crashing his car. Many deep breaths later he managed to make it to Henry's house and made it in the door before falling down.

Juliet and Maddie were instantly at his side. "Carlton! What happened?" Juliet looked over her partner for any obvious wounds before turning to Maddie. "In the fridge, in the bottom drawer, grab some blood quick."

Maddie's eyes widened. She looked closer at Carlton and realized he had the same pallor as her son. She started to head to the kitchen when Carlton stopped her.

"Wait, I'm alright. I-I just need to sit down for a second." Juliet helped Carlton to his feet and led him to the couch. Maddie, however, was still keeping her distance.

"What happened? Did it have something to do with Shawn?" Juliet asked, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

Carlton shook his head. "Damn it, I don't know O'Hara. I called Mick the same time Guster called him and he'll be here in about an hour." Juliet nodded, she already knew the other vampire was on the way to help. "I got this, feeling. Imagine an electrode hooked up to your brain and someone zaps you. It's happened three times so far and I have no clue what it means."

He hated to tell Juliet this, but it was something she _had_ to know. If it did have to do with Shawn, she would shoot him if he didn't say anything. Sniffing, he turned towards Maddie who was radiating the sweet smell of fear. He cringed a bit as the emotional wave hit him as well. Fear of him and fear for her son. "Dr. Spencer." Carlton nodded, trying to put the woman at ease but failing miserably.

Henry and Gus came in at that moment and saved Carlton from any more social awkwardness.

Henry's brow furrowed at the sight of a disheveled Carlton sitting on his couch. "Lassiter, what are you doing here?"

"He may have picked up on something from Shawn." Juliet cut in.

Carlton glared at his partner. Henry was a man of specifics, and he would want to know exactly what was going on with Carlton, but the detective couldn't give him answers he himself didn't know. "It might be related to Shawn." Carlton explained the weird feelings he'd experienced but stressed the fact that he had no idea what they were.

"Oh, it might be related to Shawn. That's really informative Lassiter." Henry grumbled before going over to Maddie.

Carlton stood up quickly and glared at Henry, "When you get the manual on "How to be a Vampire" Spencer, you let me know!"

Gus stepped between the glowering men, "This isn't helping anyone, especially Shawn." He looked back and forth between the two of them until both had relaxed and Carlton went back to sitting on the couch. "Alright, I say we get our facts straight now and try to figure out what we know so we can tell Mick as soon as he gets here."

Nods came from around the room and everyone discussed the details as they waited for the cavalry to show up.

* * *

Mick showed up a little before 9pm. Darkness was just falling. He'd driven as fast as he could to get there, hoping it wasn't already too late. Everyone seemed convinced that Shawn had been kidnapped as opposed to running off so Mick went with their assumptions.

Carlton, having heard him pull up, met him at the door. "St. John." He nodded.

"Lassiter."

The detective led the way to the house and Mick spied the living room was full of worried friends and family. "Mick." Juliet greeted and gave him a small hug. His eyes lingered on her stomach and he gave her a small smile.

After greetings and introductions were exchanged it was all down to business. They'd done what Gus had suggested and compiled all the evidence of Shawn's whereabouts.

They knew he had parked his car near the college and headed out on foot. Carlton said the area around the safe in the second hand store smelled like the ocean, and Gus said that somehow between leaving the store and chasing down a car, Shawn figured out where the thieves where hiding.

Mick nodded once he had all the information. "Okay, let's head to where Shawn's car was. I'll see if I can track him."

"Yeah, I tried that, too many people have already trampled through the place. Damn college students." Carlton huffed.

"No offense detective, but I have a bit more experience than you at tracking by scent." Carlton made a face but he knew Mick was right. "Let's head out." He got up and everyone in the room started to follow. "Woah, all of you are coming?"

Everyone looked around the room and started to argue about who was and wasn't coming.

Henry didn't want Maddie to go. No one wanted Juliet to go, and Carlton thought everyone should stay back because they were liabilities. Mick shouted above the throng of upset voices. "HEY! Everyone calm down." He pointed at Juliet and Maddie, "If you guys come, you stay back and stay in the car. We can't stand here and argue." With that, he ran to his car.

Everyone else followed closely behind him, Juliet still grumbling about having to stay in the car. Mick didn't blame her. He practically had to tie his girlfriend Beth to a chair to get her to stay.

Carlton and Juliet took one vehicle and the rest of them, Gus, Maddie and Henry climbed in his Mercedes.

* * *

When Mick pulled into the college parking lot, Gus' phone rang. He excitedly picked it up without looking, hoping it was somehow Shawn. "Hello?!"

Coraline's voice came over the receiver. _"Gus? I was wondering if you had time to meet tonight."_

Gus' eyes widened. He'd completely forgotten about Coraline. She could have helped look for Shawn. Feeling like an idiot he was about to ask, then remembered Mick. Gus hadn't yet had the opportunity, or the guts, to let Mick know that he was hanging out with his ex-wife trying to develop a new cure. He had to get her off the phone quick. "Uh, I can't talk right now. I'm going to have to call you back."

_"Is there something wrong?"_ The concern in her voice was touching, but Mick was starting to stare at Gus in the rear view mirror with a suspicious gaze. Vampires had good hearing and it looked like he started to recognize her voice.

"I'll tell you later I'm sorry but-"

Henry gave Gus a puzzled look. "Is that Coraline?" Gus widened his eyes and shook his head in a warning gesture. "Get her to the college! She can help find Shawn."

_"Shawn's missing?"_ Coraline asked while at the same time Mick's hand darted to the back seat snatching the phone. The icy look he gave Gus was so cold it could have frozen time. _"Gus? Gus are you there?"_

"Hello Coraline." Mick said evenly as Gus sank farther into the back seat.

_"Mick? Is that you?"_ Mick hadn't talked to or seen Coraline since her brother Lance had kidnapped her years ago. He'd thought she was dead or at least in Europe.

"You have a lot of explaining to do Coraline! What the hell is going on? How do you know Gus?"

_"Well, it's complicated. He's helping me with something."_ Mick could hear the uncertainty in her voice.

Mick shook his head and tossed the phone over his shoulder back to Gus. "We need to talk later."

"Okay... sure." Gus stuttered then went back on the phone. Coraline was yelling on the receiver for someone to answer her about Shawn. "Coraline, I have to go. Mick is helping search for Shawn, something happened to him."

_"Can I help?"_

Gus would have appreciated the offer earlier, but they were already there and had to go now. "Thanks but I'll keep you updated. Mick is going to sniff him out."

_"Let me know if you need me."_ The words sent a little flutter through his heart he hoped Mick missed hearing.

"Sure. I'll let you know. Bye." Gus hung up and saw that Maddie and Henry both were giving him wide eyed looks.

"I'll explain later." Gus hopped out of the car to join the others. No need for an already complicated situation to get even more complicated. What mattered now was finding Shawn.

* * *

Carlton pulled in right after Mick. He could instantly tell there was some tension between him and Gus. "What's going on?"

Mick's head swiveled in his direction. "Did you know my ex-wife was going out with Gus?"

"We're not going out!" Gus protested, coming towards them from around the other side of the car.

"Coraline...You mean Lance's sister? No... I thought you said she was missing, presumed dead?" He turned to Gus. "Guster what the hell are you getting into?" From what he'd heard from Mick, she was a very manipulative person.

"I am a grown ass man Lassie." Gus put his nose in the air defiantly. "If I want to have a business proposition with a woman, I can." Carlton's nose wrinkled in disgust as Gus realized the implicated meaning of what he had said. "You know what I mean!"

Henry stormed up, "Would you guys focus! Guster's love life can wait." He looked over to Maddie who had gone to stand by Juliet, she didn't quite know what to think of the situation but seemed to be trying hard not to freak out.

Mick was already at the spot where Shawn's car used to be, before Buzz had driven it home, and sniffed deeply, his eyes closed. Sorting through the scents of all the college students that had trampled through the area was hard, and finding one scent from over a day before was even harder. He walked in a larger circle and stopped once he caught something. "Was Shawn wearing something in his hair?"

"Whatever." Juliet stated. The group gave her puzzled and concerned looks before she blushed and explained. "Axe's 'Whatever' hair clay. Swears by it and wears it every day."

"Oh." Mick stated and sniffed a bit more. "I got something."

Carlton threw Juliet the keys to his Ford Fusion. "I'll go with Mick. The rest of you follow us in the car."

"Let's go!" Jules spun around excitedly and raced to the car.

Mick sped with Carlton on his heels to the East. Once they started getting to some taller buildings he lost the scent. _"Damn it!" _Mick cursed and looked around.

Carlton frowned. He knew Shawn wouldn't have been purposefully putting anyone off his trail, there would be no need. "Spencer what did you do?" He mumbled to himself. Suddenly it came to him. "He went on the roof!" Carlton looked up and jumped. Once on the roof he saw footprints in the dirt. "He was here!"

Mick jumped up right after him. Crouching and checking the prints. "Great! Let's go!"

A few building hops later the trail disappeared again. They had gotten to a storage yard and apparently Shawn had jumped down to enter it. Carlton pulled his side arm and proceeded with caution. This place screamed bad news.

Following the scent again Mick came up to one of the smaller buildings, stopping abruptly. "Crap." He looked over and saw Juliet pulling slowly on the dirt road leading up to where they were. He made a few hand signals for her to stop.

"What?" Carlton asked.

"I smell blood."

Carlton growled and sniffed. Sure enough it was blood. Both human _and_ vampire. He didn't know if he was more relieved that they'd found him, or angry that he'd been hurt. Cocking his gun he nodded at Mick. "Let's do this."

Sliding next to the side doors, Carlton opened it quietly and slipped in.

As soon as they opened the door the scent of blood was overwhelming. There was a trail of it leading from the door down a hallway into the main storage area. Valuable clothing and other merchandise lined the walls in mostly organized piles, but it looked like some had been knocked down, and others had been hastily grabbed.

The walls confirmed that this was the Las Arañas hide out. The same spider motif was painted multiple times, as if someone were practicing. They quickly came to the end of the hallway and got a better look at the main room.

In the center of the room was a dead man. A smallish man with brown hair, lay sprawled on his back, covered in blood. The entire area around him was also completely covered in blood, so much that it resembled a cheap slasher film where they slather on so much blood you don't notice the bad effects. This was no effect though, some violent and horrible things had happened here, _very_ recently.

"We missed them by a half an hour at most." Mick mirrored Carlton's thoughts.

Moving closer but keeping his weapon ready, Carlton went to check out the man's wounds. He feared the worst. Sure enough, the whole right side of the man's neck was a mess of vicious bite marks. They had gotten there too late.

Mick took one look and knew what happened. "It's from Shawn."

Carlton stood angrily. "You don't know that! Spencer couldn't do this."

"Yeah, I do. Look." He pointed to another, large pool of blood a few feet away. "All that is vampire blood. So are all the droplets around the floor."

Looking around, Carlton noticed all the other pools of blood. Carlton had heard the story from Juliet about Shawn being stuck in a freezer, starving and newly turned. He'd refused to drink from a girl his sire Aaron had procured for him and ended up saving both himself and the woman. If Shawn had ended up feeding, it must have been really really bad. "My God, what did they do to him?"

"I don't know-"

Quiet voices coming from the hallway signaled that Gus, Juliet and Henry had made it into the building. They peeked around the corner making sure it was safe to enter. "O'Hara, you might not want to see this. You too Guster."

Gus was already putting his hand to his nose, having smelled the blood from almost outside. "I'll stay back here."

Henry walked up and took in the scene. Carlton could see where his and Shawn's investigative practices were similar, both took in the entire room before focusing on the smaller details one by one. "He was tortured." Henry said quietly.

Juliet put her hand to her mouth in shock. She didn't doubt for a second that Henry was right. "Oh no. No... Shawn."

"GUS! Get her out of here!" Mick hollered and Gus started to tentatively head towards Juliet.

"NO! I'm staying." She steeled herself and nodded at Gus, who seemed relieved he didn't have to go anywhere near the dead body.

"Guster, come with me then, we'll check the rest of the place out." Carlton walked more towards the front of the building. Gus stayed close to the walls, away from any and all things blood covered.

Once they were to the front they noticed that the loading gate where Semi trucks pulled up was wide open, and next to the open door was another body. This one seemed to be an older man with a paunch belly. His trucker's hat was askew and his eyes bulged in frozen horror. Probably because his entire throat was missing. Well, not _missing_ exactly. It was laying ten feet away in a red clump of sinew and skin.

Gus couldn't take it anymore. He ran out the front door and Carlton heard him vomit violently.

Holding back the bile in his own throat he reached into the man's pocket and found a commercial class license. So this is the truck driver. He hurried back to Mick, who was still standing in the middle of the main room. He had a phone in his hand and was just hanging up.

"There's another body, the truck driver. His throat was torn out. Whatever happened, it looks like they took the truck, and Shawn."

Juliet paled further. "If his throat got torn out... you think Shawn-"

"We don't know what to think yet sweetie." Henry stopped her. He didn't want to believe Shawn could do this any more than she did. "What do we do now?"

The options were grim. They had no idea who the other people in the gang were, or if they were still alive. If they weren't it meant Shawn was running around out there somewhere, crazed and alone. Carlton didn't want to think of that scenario.

"We can ID the bodies and find some connections. Put out an APB on the driver's semi and we can get a lead that way. And O'Hara..." Carlton swallowed. "Call the Chief."

Juliet nodded sadly and walked out the back door. The vampires politely ignored the sobs they heard from her once she was outside, away from prying eyes.

Mick took another look at the body and shook his head. "I called the cleaners. They should be here in an hour or so to take care of the vampiric evidence. Anything else, I'm sure your Coroner will help out with it."

"Yeah, but if Spencer did this, what will the cleaners do to him?"

Mick stayed silent. It usually depended on the situation and the magnitude. Killings were looked down upon, not because the cleaners really valued human life, but because it was really hard to cover up murders nowadays. If Shawn had done anything to endanger their secrecy, there wasn't anything Mick or anyone else could do for him.

* * *

**END NOTES:**

**I really love the quote at the beginning of the chapter. It really says how I am having Shawn lose it and stays true with what I've said in earlier stories about crazed vampires still having their personalities, which makes Mick's job really hard sometimes.**

**Hope you guys liked the reintroduction of Mick! Late in the story I know but still. He's fun to have around.**


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